France coronavirus rate QUADRUPLES in a month as PM warns of new local lockdowns if Covid keeps ‘gaining ground’
FRANCE has seen its coronavirus infection rate quadruple in a month – as Prime Minister Jean Castex warned of regional lockdowns if the virus keeps “gaining ground”.
The country saw infections surge by 5,429 on Wednesday, marking the highest daily case total since the peak of the epidemic in mid-April.
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Addressing the country this morning, Mr Castex said that the virus “is spreading all over the country”, and urged authorities and citizens to “act quickly” to help stop the spread.
Castex also announced that the “R” rate – the rate of infections – had risen to 1.4 nationally.
This means that if ten people contract the virus, they will subsequently infect another 14 – with scientists warning that any R number above one can lead to exponential growth of the virus.
Mr Castex also added that worrying new figures showed that the country’s infection rate had quadrupled since a month ago.
The current infection rate stands at “39 positive cases per 100,000 inhabitants” nationally, he said.
However, France has also significantly ramped up testing capacity in recent weeks – with the country issuing 830,000 tests per week, with the goal of achieving 1 million in September.
But Mr Castex added that the spike in cases could not just be attributed to testing as the positivity rate – the percentage of tests that come back positive – had also risen from one percent in May to 3.7 per cent today.
Overall, France has recorded over 30,000 deaths and 253, 587 cases since the beginning of the pandemic.
Asked about the possibility of a national lockdown, Mr Castex said that they “lie ready in the health ministry” but the government would “do everything” to prevent it, The Local reports.
President Emmanuel Macron, speaking to magazine Paris Match, said last week that he “can’t shut the country down” as the “collateral damage of lockdown is considerable”.
In its place, he stressed the priority of “testing, tracing, isolating, organising our emergencies” and “generalising the wearing of masks when necessary”.
As part of measures to curb the spread of infection, Mr Castex also said that face masks will become compulsory in Paris from 8am on Friday.
Face coverings were already mandatory on public transport, but will now have to be worn in all public places.
According to the PM, police had issued 700 fines per day to people who had flouted mask wearing rules, and completed 30,000 checks.
It comes as Mr Castex revealed that the number of “red zones” – where the virus is in active circulation – had gone from just two to 21.
Hospitalisations across the nation are also up by around 300 compared to the beginning of June.
A “red zone” is declared when a region has an infection rate of 50 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants on a weekly average.
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It means that authorities have the power to impose local lockdowns if it is deemed necessary, as well as other preventative measures to stop the spread of infection.
Marseille, the country’s second largest city, became a red zone seven days ago – and imposed the mandatory wearing of face masks.
Many of France’s other “red zones” are clustered along the French Riviera in the southeast of the country.