French President Emmanuel Macron is announcing a four-week nationwide lockdown beginning Oct. 30 due to a spike in coronavirus cases. Macron was scheduled to make the announcement on national TV on the same day Germany moved to shut down restaurants, bars and theaters all over again.
“We must act, and now, to avoid an acute national health emergency,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said as she announced a four-week partial lockdown starting Monday.
Macron is banning travel between regions in the country, and government authorized certificates are being required to leave residences, according to various news outlets, including France 24. The lockdown does not affect schools, according to news outlets, which will remain open. Visits to nursing and retirement homes are also being allowed.
According to the World Health Organization, countries around the globe reported more than 2 million confirmed coronavirus cases last week, the shortest time for such an exponential increase since the pandemic began.
In a weekly analysis of COVID-19, WHO said the European region accounted for the biggest proportion of new cases for the second consecutive week, with more than 1.3 million reported cases or about 46% of the worldwide total. The U.N. health agency said deaths were also on the rise in Europe, with about a 35% spike since the previous week.
“Although the number of deaths is gradually increasing, the proportion of deaths to cases remains relatively low, compared to the early phase of the pandemic in the spring,” the WHO said.
The agency also noted that hospitalizations and ICU occupancy due to COVID-19 increased in 21 countries across Europe. It estimated about 18% of COVID-19 patients were hospitalized, with about 7% needing ICU support or breathing machines.
More than 44 million coronavirus cases around the world have been confirmed since the pandemic began, with more than 1.1 million deaths.
France reported 523 virus-related deaths in 24 hours Tuesday, the highest daily tally since April. It is reporting tens of thousands of new infections per day and more than 380 new cases each week per 100,000 people.
Many French doctors have been calling for a new nationwide lockdown, noting that 58 percent of the country’s intensive care units are now occupied by Covid-19 patients and medical staff are under increasing strain.
“The government didn’t take into account what the first wave was and didn’t learn all its lessons,” Frederic Valletoux, president of the French Hospital Federation, said Wednesday on France Inter radio.
This story is developing.
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