Speaking during a televised press conference this Thursday evening, French Prime Minister Jean Castex said that "police prefects in the departments concerned will now consult with elected representatives on how to deal with the latest spike in Covid-19.
"With a view to urging all the inhabitants to exercise the utmost vigilance without delay and to envisage braking measures similar to those put in place in Nice and Dunkirk,” the Prime Minister added.
He said a review of the situation will be held next week during which the government will decide whether or not to implement new, lockdown measures.
Earlier this week, French authorities had announced a weekend lockdown in the northern city of Dunkirk. As with a lockdown recently imposed in Nice on the French Riviera, some 250,000 people in and around Dunkirk would only be allowed to leave their homes for specific reasons.
The area’s 10 largest shopping centres would only open for click-and-collect services.
Dans ces 20 départements, les préfets engageront des concertations avec les élus pour inviter sans attendre les habitants à la plus grande vigilance et envisager, dans tout ou partie de ces territoires, des mesures de freinage proches de celles mises en place à Nice et Dunkerque. pic.twitter.com/8AkpGrGsBx
— Jean Castex (@JeanCASTEX) February 25, 2021
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France announces weekend lockdown in Dunkirk, warns of wider local restrictions
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Covid-19: French southern city of Nice turns its back on tourists
The concerned regions in France include the entire Ile-de-France region, parts of the Hauts-de-France and Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur regions as well as the departments of Drôme, Moselle and Meurthe-et-Moselle, and Eure-et-Loir.
Meanwhile, Castex said that the variant first discovered in England represented about 50% of the most recent cases of Covid-19 recorded in France.
He also justified the government’s decision to not implement a nationwide confinement again. “Confinement is a lever that we must resort to, when we cannot do otherwise,” he said.
