-
ALSO READ
France sees further fall in Covid hospitalisations as lockdown exit starts
France registers over 26,000 new coronavirus infections in 24 hours
France reports another 23,770 coronavirus cases, 348 deaths in 24 hours
How coronavirus changed the way we support people with respiratory disease
Sweden confirms first case of mutated, more infectious coronavirus strain
-
The Covid-19 pandemic situation in France is "particularly fragile" due to the more infectious variants of the virus, but there was no need to impose a new nationwide lockdown at the moment, Prime Minister Jean Castex said.
With daily averages of 20,000 new infection cases, 1,600 hospital admissions and 320 deaths, "the situation remains worrying", Castex warned at a weekly press briefing on Wednesday.
However, he said "for the moment, there is no necessity to lock down", arguing that "the level of incidence is certainly high, but it is still much lower than it was last October" when the country entered a second confinement, reports Xinhua news agency.
"A new lockdown can only be considered as a very last resort. Currently, the situation does not justify such a move," Castex told reporters at the briefing.
"The objective is not to delay (the confinement) but to do everything possible to avoid it. We must hold on, act together," he said.
The Prime Minister also said that the percentage of infections by the new variants among new cases has increased from 3.3 per cent on January 8 to 14 per cent on Thursday.
France has also confirmed four cases of the coronavirus strain first detected in Brazil, Health Minister Olivier Veran said at the same press briefing.
"Our objective is clear: we want to limit the spread of these variants as much as possible," said Veran, noting that the country was "in a race against time" against more infectious variants.
By next week, all residents in nursing homes who want to be vaccinated will have received their first jab, while up to 4 million people would receive the first dose later this month, according to Castex.
Sticking to a three-to-four-week gap between the two injections, France aims to vaccinate all the citizens aged over 65 by the end of May and all adults before September, he added.
One of the hardest hit countries in Europe, France has so far registered a total of 3,310,496 coronavirus cases and 77,743 deaths.
--IANS
ksk/
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Dear Reader,
Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.
We, however, have a request.
As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.
Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.
Digital Editor
RECOMMENDED FOR YOU