JAKARTA - French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday, March 31 local time, ordered France to implement a third national lockdown, all schools closed for three weeks, as part of the handling of the third wave of COVID-19.
With the death toll approaching 100,000, intensive care units in the hardest-hit areas at a breaking point and a vaccine launch slower than planned, Macron was forced to abandon his goal of keeping the country open to protect the economy.
"We will lose control if we don't move now", the president said in a speech broadcast on French television as reported by Reuters.
With this announcement, the lockdown previously imposed in Paris and several other regions will apply across France for the next month from Saturday the day after tomorrow.
Departing from his promise to protect education from the pandemic, President Macron said schools would be closed for three weeks after this weekend.
President Macron has been trying to avoid a third large-scale lockdown since the start of the year. He believes he can steer France out of the pandemic without locking up the country again, to give the economy a chance to recover from last year's slump.
However, the former investment banker's options have narrowed as a more contagious strain of coronavirus has hit France and much of Europe.
"This is the best solution to slow down the virus", added President Macron.
New daily infections in France have doubled since February to an average of nearly 40,000. The number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care has crossed 5,000, surpassing the peak reached during the six-week lockdown late last year.
In anticipation of this, the bed capacity in critical care units will be increased to 10,000, said Macron.
The risk of a new lockdown is slowing the pace of France's economic recovery from last year's slump. This will force the temporary closure of 150,000 businesses for 11 billion euros or about 12.89 billion US dollars per month, the finance ministry said.
The lockdown is believed to be a 'reward' for the slow launch of the EU's COVID-19 vaccination program, including France. This is inversely proportional to Britain, which has left the European Union, has successfully vaccinated half of the population, and reopened its economy.
President Macron said the COVID-19 vaccination campaign in France must be accelerated. Due to a shortage of supplies and bureaucratic problems, to date, only 12 percent of the French population has been vaccinated.
By closing down from April and speeding up the vaccination process, France hopes to reopen citizen activities in May, starting with museums, outdoor terraces, bars, and restaurants with strict regulations.
"We can see a way out of this crisis", believes Macron.
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