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French PM Castex to announce new Covid-19 measures as cases surge



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Six days after curfews came into effect in greater Paris and eight other metropolitan areas, French Prime Minister Jean Castex is slated to announce new measures to stem the spread of coronavirus as cases rise across the country.

France is set to place more regions on the highest alert level as coronavirus infections continue to spread.

Castex‘s news conference is expected to include “an announcement that a certain number of departments are being moved to the maximum alert level”, government spokesman Gabriel Attal said Wednesday after a cabinet meeting.

A curfew would also be ordered for some of these regions. 

A nightly curfew from 9pm to 6am went into effect at midnight Saturday in Paris and several other French cities in response to daily new infections reaching record levels. The curfews affected some 20 million French people.

Residents need to download a certificate for activities permitted after hours – such as travel to or from work, for medical attention, to visit a dependent relative or to walk a dog.

Those who do not comply risk a fine of €135 while repeat offenders could face fines of up to €3,750. Some 12,000 police officers and gendarmes, in addition to municipal police teams, were deployed to enforce the initial curfews.

The government has said it did not expect curfews to have a real impact on virus numbers until two or three weeks have passed.

The French health ministry reported a record number of new confirmed cases on Saturday at 32,427, surpassing the 32,000 mark for the first time, while the number of Covid-19 patients in intensive care rose above 2,000 on Monday for the first time since May. The country reported 166 deaths in hospital in 24 hours on Wednesday, taking the French death toll since the start of the epidemic above 34,000. 

(FRANCE 24 with AFP and REUTERS)



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