Paris: The French government on Friday announced that the capital Paris is all set to go into a month-long COVID lockdown as the country stares at a possible a third wave of the coronavirus pandemic.
Under this some 21 million residents in 16 areas of France will be placed under lockdown from midnight on Friday, BBC reported.
However, Prime Minister Jean Castex said that the latest measures will not be as strict as the previous lockdown, and people will be allowed to come out and exercise in the open.
France recorded more than 35,000 new cases of coronavirus in the past 24 hours.
Mr Castex said a by the way things stand right now it seems inevitable that the country will face the “third wave” of infections.
The situation is particularly worrying in the capital Paris where 1,200 people have been admitted in intensive care, which is more than at the peak of the second wave in November, Health Minister Olivier Veran said.
Under the new measures, all non-essential businesses will be closed, however schools will remain open, along with hairdressers only if they follow a “particular sanitary protocol”.
Government spokesman Gabriel Attal said that this lockdown will be different from the previous two lockdowns and said further details would be given on which business could stay open or which would have to shut.
People will be allowed to exercise outdoors within 10km (6 miles) of their home and are not allowed to travel to other parts of the country unless they have a valid reason. Those in the affected areas will have to fill out a form to explain why they have left their homes. (UNI)