Tougher Covid rules from weekend in Paris and north France

Stricter Covid-related measures are to be announced for the Ile-de-France and Hauts-de-France regions at a press conference tomorrow (March 18) at 18:00. A weekend lockdown, in place in three other areas of France, is expected but a full lockdown has not been ruled out.

Prime Minister Jean Castex said yesterday that “the time has come to consider measures for the Ile-de-France region”.

“The data is there. We are in a worrying and critical situation and, very clearly, measures of the type that have been used in other parts of the territory are on the table,” he told BFMTV in an interview last night (March 16).

He was referring to the three weekend lockdowns in place in three other areas in France.

President Emmanuel Macron presided over the weekly conseil de défense sanitaire this morning where, along with other top ministers including the prime minister, they discussed stricter measures for Ile-de-France.

Following the meeting, government spokesperson Gabriel Attal stated that supplementary measures were necessary for the regions Hauts-de-France and Ile-de-France as the situation was “deteriorating”.

He said these new restrictions would be announced by Mr Castex during a press conference tomorrow (March 18), scheduled for 18:00, with the restrictions set to come into force from this weekend.

He said that the stricter measures could go as far as a full lockdown, adding that school closures were not envisaged at the moment.

Mr Macron and Health Minister Olivier Véran are set to visit the hospital of Poissy/Saint Germain en Laye in Yvelines (Ile-de-France) this afternoon (March 17) at 16:00.

They will meet with staff working in the intensive care ward and the hospital director.

In the past week, 418 new cases of Covid-19 have been reported for every 100,000 people in the Ile-de-France region. This is far higher than the maximum alert threshold of 250. The national average in France is, incidentally, also 250.

Mr Castex said earlier this week that Ile-de-France could go into lockdown if the incidence rate reaches 400.

France PM: Paris will lockdown if incidence rate reaches 400

The increase in the number of patients in intensive care in the Ile-de-France has forced hospitals to reschedule around 40% of all non-urgent operations.

There are currently over 1,100 people in intensive care units due to Covid-19 in the region and that number has been steadily increasing, as shown in the graph below.

The weekend lockdowns in the department of Pas-de-Calais and in the city of Dunkirk are set to remain until at least March 28.

Communes along the Alpes-Maritimes coastline have also been subject to a weekend lockdown for the previous three weeks. A decision is set to be made this week as to whether the measures will be continued.

As part of the restrictions introduced in Pas-de-Calais, Dunkirk and the Alpes-Maritimes, people can only leave the house on Saturday and Sunday for essential reasons and they must carry an exemption certificate (attestation de déplacement).

The reasons include shopping and daily exercise for up to one hour within a radius of five kilometres from your home.

All non-essential businesses are also closed on the weekend, including hairdressers, clothes shops, etc.

You can read more about the rules here.

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