Lockdown 'necessary' says president of French doctors union

Jean-Paul Hamon, president of the Fédération des Médecins, told The Connexion that dropping curfew measures after only two weeks and imposing a national lockdown was a matter of urgency.

“It was necessary to not wait for the possible effect of the curfew, as the number of cases has risen sharply in recent days and more restrictive measures had to be taken as a matter of urgency,” he said.

Why has France announced a lockdown two weeks after curfew?

And Mr Hamon said that the weather may be a determining factor in the increase in cases recently.

“The transition from a slow but steady increase may be due to the drop in temperature, which has changed the behaviour of people who have enclosed themselves more and ventilated their flats less,” he said.

France’s second national lockdown came into effect today (Friday, October 30). It replaced 21:00 curfew measures that had been in place in 54 departments around the country.

President Emmanuel Macron announced the new confinement in a speech on Wednesday.

“The virus is circulating in France at a speed that even the most pessimistic predictions had not anticipated. Unlike the first wave, all regions are now at the alert threshold,” he said.

In the past 24 hours, France has reported 47,637 new cases of coronavirus. Over 15,000 people have been hospitalised due to the virus in the past week, of which 2,278 have been placed in intensive care units.

Anyone leaving their homes as of today will need to fill in an exemption form (attestation de déplacement), which can be displayed on smart phones or printed.

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