New confinement in France. Starting from midnight on Friday 19 March, in sixteen departments – including the entire metropolitan area of Pcarigi – strict rules for containing the virus are returning. However, schools will remain open.
Paris, Nice and the North-West
Prime Minister Jean Castex announced Thursday evening that for at least four weeks the department of the Alpes-Maritimes (Nice), the Ile de France (the metropolitan area of Paris), the Norman departments of Eure and Seine Maritime (Rouen and Le Havre), and the whole Hauts de France region (Lille, Amiens, Roubaix, Calais, Dunkerque will be affected by new restrictive measures, which could possibly be extended to other areas of the country if the evolution of the epidemic were to require it. Currently, the measures affect 20 million French citizens (out of a total of 66 million).
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Open the libraries …
The new measures should allow “braking without closing,” Castex said. They provide for the prohibition to move more than ten kilometers from their home and to move to other regions, except for the classic exceptions for necessary activities. Visits and gatherings are prohibited, while – within the limits of 10 km – walking and physical activity are allowed. All non-essential commercial activities are closed (there are 110 thousand points of sale, according to the Ministry of Economy), but bookstores and record shops remain open.
… and schools
The schools will continue the activity, even if the high schools will carry out distance learning at 50 percent. “It is a measure that distinguishes us from many of our neighboring countries – said Castex – that we intend to keep as long as possible”. You will be able to resume sporting activity normally during school hours. The government has also insisted on the need to use teleworking for at least four days a week. Throughout France, the curfew will start from Saturday at 7pm and no longer at 6pm.
Castex vaccinated with AstraZeneca
The administration of AstraZeneca vaccines will also resume from Friday, after the assurances of the EMA. Prime Minister Castex himself was among the first vaccinated. The situation of the epidemic is rather critical, especially in the Paris area, where due to the spread of the British variant there are 446 cases per 100 thousand inhabitants (calculated on a weekly basis) against a maximum critical threshold set at 250.