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PARIS — France is planning to impose a curfew of 6 p.m. in French cities and departments where coronavirus infection rates are surging rapidly, French Health Minister Olivier Véran said Tuesday.
“We are going to propose an extension of the curfew, from 8 p.m. to 6 p.m., in the departments where the incidence rate would be above the national level,” Véran said on France 2 TV.
France ended its second national lockdown this year on December 15 but still enforces an 8 p.m. curfew.
The health minister said an official decision to implement the earlier curfew would be made during a public consultation in the coming days, and could apply starting January 2 for an indefinite period. Some 20 departments could be affected by the new curfew, according to Le Monde.
“We’ve been on a plateau for the past three weeks, with an average of 15,000 infections per day,” Véran said. The situation is “problematic” in regions such as “the east region, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté and the southeast region,” he added.
In the French Riviera, for instance, the incidence rate was 340 cases per 100,000 people per day last week, which was two times higher than the national average for the same period (154 cases per 100,000 people), according to health ministry data.
The government has ruled out imposing another national or local lockdowns, Véran said.
This goes against recommendations published earlier in the day by the country’s scientific council, an independent body that advises the government on its coronavirus strategy.
The risk of an “uncontrolled resumption of the epidemic” in January is “probable” due to additional infections caused by end-of-year festivities, the council said. It suggested a national lockdown in worst-affected areas or stricter measures limiting social and economic activities.
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