Jean Castex said that France registered 35,000 new infections on Thursday, an increase of 23.6% last week, and that the variant first identified in the UK is responsible for three quarters of the cases.
The French Prime Minister also said that one person is entering intensive care every four minutes with Covid-19 in the country. Even more worrying, he said, is that people who are hospitalized with the disease are younger and healthier compared to previous waves.
The new measures take effect on Friday at midnight and will last at least four weeks, but are less restrictive than the measures imposed in March and November last year.
“Our choice, to be less restrictive about the possibilities of leaving home, will need to be accompanied by real care,” said Castex. “It is clearly a matter of allowing people to stay outside, but not to go to the house of friends to have a party or meet with many people without social distance or a face mask. We know that it is in this type of situation that the virus thrives “, he added.
The new restrictions allow individuals to go for a walk or exercise, but they must have a “certificate” of approval and cannot travel more than 10 km from their home or travel between regions without a valid reason.
However, the night curfew – currently in effect from 6 pm – will be moved to 7 pm on Friday.
Core businesses will remain open, as will schools and universities. But people are being encouraged to work from home.
“Our belief is that if new measures are needed, we need to maintain the same coherence and prefer a pragmatic, proportional and territorialized approach,” said Castex, adding that the coronavirus pandemic is “accelerating considerably” and was “becoming clearer and more of course it’s a third wave. “
The French strategy led by President Emmanuel Macron – who is running for re-election next year – has so far consisted of resisting a third national blockade because of the impact it would have on mental health and the economy.
Instead, Macron has favored regional weekend blockades, as in the north and the French Riviera, a nationwide curfew has been in place since mid-December and restaurants and bars have been closed for five months.
As neighboring countries imposed stricter restrictions to combat the spread of new variants, Macron’s less severe approach was met with the support of some and the incomprehension of others. With France surpassing the dismal 90,000 dead, the stakes are high for Macron. Critics say he is playing with lives.
“Macron is protecting his bets and human lives are at stake,” Communist MP Fabien Roussel told France 5.
The 43-year-old man was accused of returning to monarchical customs by going against the advice of his Scientific Council, resisting pressure from his ministers and showing reluctance to change course.
“When you’re French, you have everything you need to succeed, as long as you dare to try,” Macron told ministers in January. “Even if the path is narrow, you have to take it.”
In February, the government once again faced increasing calls from members of the medical community to impose a national blockade. French Health Minister Olivier Veran defended the decision to postpone.
“Each week without a block is a week with additional freedoms for the French,” Veran told France Info.
But with France registering the biggest daily increase in cases of Covid-19 in four months on Wednesday, with 38,501 new infections, according to the French health ministry, some disagree with the notion that every day without a block counts as a victory.
“We didn’t win 15 days, we lost 15 days and that allowed the situation to get worse,” tweeted Republican Mayor Daniel Fasquelle.
On Wednesday, the left-wing newspaper Liberation published a front page showing a Macron wearing a mask looking at the floor, “Covid: The Master Of Lost Time,” read the headline.
“The president is so afraid of losing next year’s election that his policies will end up increasing the risk of death for the French population,” epidemiologist Catherine Hill told CNN on Thursday. But with the virus “everywhere,” Hill doesn’t believe regional blockages are the answer.
This time last year, France entered its first three-month block, followed by a second lighter block, which started in October and ended in December.
France’s slow vaccination campaign has been widely criticized and the launch is expected to be further hampered by the suspension of the AstraZeneca vaccine. It partially vaccinated only 4.5% of its population, compared to 36% in the United Kingdom and 21% in the United States, according to our World in Data.
Despite the poor performance of the vaccine, Macron’s support has increased since the beginning of the year. His approval rating rose by 6 percentage points to 41%, according to an Ipsos-Mori poll in March, well above the 16% of his socialist predecessor François Hollande in March 2016 and conservative Nicolas Sarkozy in 2011, who stood at 31 %.
CNN’s Antonella Francini contributed to this report.