France will impose sweeping restrictions for a second time to stem the coronavirus pandemic.
“I know that it may be tiresome, and it may be breaking your heart, but these difficult times call on all of us to show resilience and solidarity,” President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday.
The shutdowns start Thursday and will be in effect through Dec. 1, at least. All nonessential businesses, such as retail stores and restaurants, will close with financial assistance from the government. Schools and supermarkets will remain open.
French hospitals have been increasingly strained since cases began ticking up last month. The newly enacted restrictions are part of the government’s plan to avoid hospital overflow.
“We have been submerged by the rapid acceleration of COVID-19,” Macron announced on Wednesday in a prime-time televised address, adding that the second wave of the virus is “likely to be deadlier than the first.”
Macron’s announcement comes slightly over a week after the government announced mandatory curfews in nine major cities.
France has so far confirmed more than 1.1 million cases and 35,400 deaths.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel reinstated coronavirus restrictions earlier Wednesday, which will shut down bars and restaurants and ban large events. Schools and nurseries, though, could remain open.
Germany’s new coronavirus cases have risen on average by 14,000 each day, leading to a current total of more than 463,000.
