French Prime Minister Jean Castex has announced that France will be ending their lockdown protocol and replacing it with a curfew.
The new curfew will be from 20:00-06:00 (8 pm to 6 am) daily and will be effective from 15 December 2020 until further notice. In addition, the lockdown procedures will be lifted from 15 December 2020.
In addition to the lifting of lockdowns, and the setting of a national curfew, Castex also announced that:
- People will once again be able to travel across the country of France.
- The curfew will be waived for Christmas Eve.
- Families are allowed to celebrate Christmas, however, only in groups no larger than 6.
- Bars and restaurants in France will remain closed until at least 20 January 2021.
- France’s curfew will not be waived on New Year’s Eve, to prevent large gatherings of people celebrating.
The curfew measures come in part due to the failing of lockdowns in France. The lockdown procedures have not slowed the spread of COVID-19 in the country, and so leadership is now looking for other solutions to slow the spread of the virus.
The French government established that the number of new COVID-19 cases in the country should be below 5,000 per day as the condition for lifting lockdowns. However, as lockdown procedures have failed, the number of new cases per day still remains over 10,000.
“We aren’t yet at the end of this second wave, and we won’t reach the objectives we had set for 15 December,” Castex said during a news conference. “We can’t let down our guard. We have to stay focused and find our way through the next few weeks with lots of vigilance.”
It is still unclear at the time of writing this article when France will lift its curfew regime, or what measures may lay ahead for the country.
