France could impose another lockdown as coronavirus cases rise
Coronavirus in France
France could be on its way to impose its third nation-wide lockdown if the number of COVID-19 cases continue to rise. The country’s health minister on Sunday said that another lockdown could be on its way, with more cases expected in the aftermath of Christmas.
"We will never exclude measures that are necessary to protect the public," Olivier Veran, the country’s health minister told the Journal du Dimanche.
"That is not to say we have made a decision, but that we are watching the situation hour by hour”, he added.
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On an average, the country has been inducting 15,000 new cases of COVID-19 everyday. On Friday, the country also confirmed the first case of a faster spreading variant of coronavirus which was first spotted in the UK.
After experts claimed that the new strain is more contagious, countries quickly imposed travel restrictions on the United Kingdom. At least 50 countries have banned travel to and from the UK recently.
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After a 48 hour ban on arrivals from the UK, France reopened its borders to allow French citizens to return home. In addition, a build up of freight goods at the border was causing problems, and had to be addressed by the government.
France is on its way to begin mass inoculation. On Saturday, the country received the first doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.