PARIS • France will seal its borders for travellers coming from outside the European Union and close large shopping centres as part of a fresh set of measures aimed at preventing the spread of Covid-19 and avoid a more draconian shutting down of the economy.
The country is doing everything to avoid a lockdown, Prime Minister Jean Castex said on Friday. He urged more people to work from home and imposed virus tests for everyone entering France from within the EU, except cross-border workers.
The spread of Covid-19 variants "is raising the risk that the pandemic will worsen", he said, adding that France still has a chance to avoid a third lockdown.
The new measures cap a week of speculation about whether President Emmanuel Macron would take the plunge and tighten curbs after delaying a decision that would hurt an already battered economy and could prove politically costly, just 15 months before a presidential election.
Mr Macron has been torn between pressure from doctors and researchers calling for a lockdown to prevent a surge in cases and deaths similar to the United Kingdom and businesses wanting to remain open to avoid collapse.
Most countries in Europe are taking tougher steps to fight back new forms of the virus, with leaders warning that mutant strains will result in longer, possibly stricter lockdowns. The EU is counting on shots developed by Western drugmakers, but the pace of the drive is slower than expected and the bloc is embroiled in a supply spat with manufacturers.
The number of cases has risen in recent weeks along with the emergence of more virulent forms, putting pressure on the hospital system. Over 2,000 cases of new variants are being reported daily, or about 10 per cent of all cases, up from several hundreds early this month, said Health Minister Olivier Veran. Around 3,000 patients are in intensive care, a level comparable to October - when the second lockdown started and ended in mid-December - he said. Before the Covid-19 crisis, France's capacity was 5,000 beds.
While non-essential businesses have reopened, restaurants, cafes, bars, cinemas, theatres and sports venues have been closed since October. The latest rules taking effect today also shut large stores that do not sell food and ban travel to the country's overseas territories except under extenuating circumstances.
In Canada, travellers entering the country will have to quarantine in hotels at their own expense and airlines are suspending flights to southern destinations, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said last Friday. New arrivals will have to pay to quarantine in hotels for up to three days under strict supervision, he told a news conference.
Ottawa is stepping up Covid-19 testing while Canadian airlines have agreed to cancel flights to destinations such as Mexico and the Caribbean until the end of April. "Now is just not the time to be flying," Mr Trudeau said.
Italy, on the other hand, said it would ease coronavirus restrictions across much of the country from tomorrow, despite warnings from health experts that the move was risky given concern over the spread of more contagious variants.
After a review of the latest Covid-19 data, the health ministry said last Friday it was shifting 11 regions from orange to yellow zones, giving people there greater freedom to travel and allowing bars and restaurants to reopen during the day.
BLOOMBERG, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS
