{"id":195941,"date":"2021-03-06T22:00:01","date_gmt":"2021-03-06T19:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/france-extends-weekend-lockdown-to-northern-region\/"},"modified":"2021-03-06T22:00:01","modified_gmt":"2021-03-06T19:00:01","slug":"france-extends-weekend-lockdown-to-northern-region","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/france-extends-weekend-lockdown-to-northern-region\/","title":{"rendered":"#France extends weekend lockdown to northern region"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#France extends weekend lockdown to northern region<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

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\n Credit: Pixabay\/CC0 Public Domain
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Hundreds of thousands of people in northern France went back into lockdown Saturday, while health officials stepped up a nationwide vaccination campaign to make up ground after a slow start.\n <\/p>\n

Paris police meanwhile moved in to clear people off the banks of the Seine after crowds ignored social<\/a> distancing guidelines to make the most of a sunny spring day.<\/p>\n

Residents of Pas-de-Calais on the north coast joined those in the region’s port of Dunkirk\u2014and the Mediterranean resort of Nice\u2014which are already on shutdowns on Saturdays and Sundays.<\/p>\n

That puts more than two million people across France under the weekend restrictions, required to stay at home unless they can provide a written exemption.<\/p>\n

With hospital capacity at 90 percent in Pas-de-Calais, the region’s top official insisted the new restrictions were necessary to prevent local health services from being overwhelmed.<\/p>\n

Two thirds of the cases recorded there recently have been the more contagious variant first detected in England, local officials said.<\/p>\n

But with a 6:00 pm-6:00 am curfew already in place and non-essential shops closed, the new restrictions will further hit already hard-pressed businesses.<\/p>\n

COVID-19 has killed 88,300 people across France, according to the latest figures Saturday. <\/p>\n

The government is trying to step up its vaccination campaign to give a first jab to 10 million people by mid-April, 20 million by mid-May and 30 million by summer.<\/p>\n

So far however, fewer than 3.4 million people in France have received at least one dose of the vaccine\u2014compared with more than 22 million in Britain.<\/p>\n

New vaccination points<\/b><\/p>\n

This weekend the French campaign focused on the over-75s and people most vulnerable to the more serious form of COVID-19.<\/p>\n

Four military hospitals around the country opened vaccination stations Saturday, with new centres opening in Pas-de-Calais while about 100 got up and running across the Paris region.<\/p>\n

“I had 10 minutes’ waiting, which isn’t bad!” said 76-year-old Alain Serra in the northeast of the capital.<\/p>\n

In the Haute-Garonne region in the southwest, a mobile vaccination station got to work in Toulouse’s Ernest-Wallon stadium.<\/p>\n

“I’ve been waiting for this impatiently,” said Laurence, who said he was in one of the at-risk categories. “I hope to get back to a normal life.”<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Jean Castex promised on Saturday to put everything into a major vaccine push-out in March and April.<\/p>\n

The coming weeks would be crucial in the race to get ahead of the spread of the virus, he said.<\/p>\n

The government has opted for targeted measures in the worst-hit regions in the hope of avoiding another economically devastating nationwide lockdown.<\/p>\n

In Paris on Friday, police extended a ban on the consumption of alcohol outdoors to the banks of the Seine to try to reduce the crowds gathering to enjoy the spring sunshine.<\/p>\n

While the ban was general<\/a>ly respected, officers had to move in on Saturday to clear the banks of the river because Parisians, ignoring social distancing guidelines, were packed too close together.<\/p>\n

France’s Order of Doctors meanwhile, app<\/a>ealed to all health workers to set an example and get vaccinated. So far, take-up in the sector has been just 30 percent.\n <\/p>\n\n

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Follow the latest news<\/a> on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak\n <\/p><\/div>\n

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\n \u00a9 2021 AFP<\/p>\n

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Citation<\/strong>:
\n France extends weekend lockdown to northern region (2021, March 6)
\n retrieved 6 March 2021
\n from https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/news\/2021-03-france-weekend-lockdown-northern-region.html<\/p>\n

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