As the situation keeps getting worse, France will establish a month-long night-time curfew in Paris and eight other major cities. In addition, All bars, restaurants, theatres, and similar businesses will have to shut at 9 PM.
Following the president’s orders, Paris will now shut down during the night. Starting at 9 PM and until 6 AM, people must stay at home. This series of measures arrive in order to stop the disease from circulating.
Other Cities Affected by France’s Curfew
Although the capital city, Paris, will have to implement these measures, it is not the only city that will have to live with this curfew. According to this new State of Emergency, these new rules are also applied to Lille, Rouen, Saint-Etienne, Toulouse, Lyon, Grenoble, Aix-en-Provence, and Montpellier.
France’s president Macron stated that this State of Emergency was now set to be re-introduced, along with the other tougher measures, from Saturday. The situation due to this second wave of coronavirus spread was getting out of hand. According to France’s information, the number of Covid-19 infections rose by 26,896 in 24 hours on Saturday.
President Macron said he did not want people in France ‘going bankrupt because of this curfew, as was the case during lockdown’. But those caught on the streets after the curfew will have to pay fines equivalent to £122 (€135), rising to £1353 (€1500) for repeat offenders. Despite this, night public transport will continue during the four weeks of curfew, with passes allowed for essential workers.
Spain and Italy
Meanwhile, Italy saw its highest ever daily spike with 7,332 new cases today. Definitely, terrible news for Europe as the virus keeps spreading. Moreover, Belgium also warned that intensive care units will hit capacity by mid-November.
If we take a look at Spain, the situation does not look better. Catalonia bars and restaurants were shut down today while schools are closing again around Europe. The situation is again very difficult around the world. Many European countries are planning to apply tougher restrictions across the continent as leaders face their nightmare scenario of a Covid-19 resurgence on the eve of winter.
The Spanish region closed bars and restaurants for 15 days in a ‘painful but necessary’ measure after adding nearly 11,000 cases in the space of a week. Although the measures only affect some regions, the rest will probably follow. It is more than confirmed that half of Europe is now ‘being hit by the second wave.’
This virus that we have known from the beginning and which has struck us for eight months is coming back. We have not lost control. We are in a situation which is worrying and which justifies that we are neither inactive nor in panic. It is equally worrying in other European countries, such as Germany which is also taking restrictive measures. Spain and the Netherlands are also in a very worrying situation and have taken very restrictive measures in recent days.
France’s President Emmanuel Macron