Daily US Times: France has entered its third national coronavirus lockdown as the country battles a surge in cases of coronavirus infections that threatens to overwhelm its hospitals.
A curfew will be in place from 19:00 to 06:00, and all schools and non-essential shops will shut for four weeks.
The number of seriously ill Covid patients in intensive care units (ICU) increased by 145 on Friday – the biggest jump in five months.
French President Emmanuel Macron has promised more hospital beds for Covid-19 patients.
The country is currently battling a peak of about 5,000 coronavirus patients in ICUs. France recorded 46,677 new cases and 304 deaths on Friday.
As well as the third national lockdown that came into force on Saturday, from Tuesday people will also need a valid reason to travel more than 10 km from their homes.
President Macron had hoped to keep France’s Covid-19 case under control without having to impose another lockdown.
However, the country has struggled with an EU-wide delay in the Covid-19 vaccine rollout, as well as several new strains of the coronavirus.
President Frank-Walter Steinmeier of Germany called on people to play their part and get vaccinated.
On Saturday, while speaking in a television address to the nation, he said the country was in the middle of a third wave and that it faced more restrictions.
He also admitted that mistakes had been made – specifically in the vaccine rollout and testing- and talked about there being a “crisis of trust” in the state.
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