French President Emmanuel Macron has announced strict 9 pm curfews for several major metropolitan areas, with residents requiring permits to be on the streets at night.
The French leader announced 9 pm to 6 am curfews would be implemented in the Paris region, Grenoble, Lille, Lyon, Aix-Marseille, Rouen, Toulouse, Montpellier, and Saint-Etienne starting on Saturday at midnight and will last at least four weeks.
“We will go to Parliament and extend it until December 1st,” Macron said according to Le Figaro, adding: “Six weeks is the time that we think is useful.”
President Macron said that the new curfew measures were a preferable alternative to reintroducing the restrictive lockdowns that the country saw earlier this year, arguing that it would be “disproportionate to confine the country”.
Those who do not obey the new curfew measures will be subjected to a €135 fine and those who violate it a second time can see a fine of up to €1,500. Macron added that those who return from work after 9 pm or those with health emergencies would be granted special permits. Otherwise, anyone found outside their home at night without a valid reason would face the force of the law.
Travel will not be restricted between the various French regions, however. “We have not decided to reduce travel between regions. It is not a question of infantilising but of holding accountable. We won’t prevent people from going on holiday, but we do ask that they follow the rules in the coming weeks and months,” Macron said.
France, along with many other European countries, has seen a fresh wave of coronavirus infections in recent weeks, with over 26,600 cases reported on October 11th alone — a daily record, according to World Health Organization (WHO) statistics.
Coronavirus deaths, meanwhile, have remained much lower than earlier this year with a recent high of 150 deaths on September 26th compared to the record daily high of 2,003 deaths on April 4th.
During the last lockdown, France also saw widespread riots in vulnerable no-go neighbourhoods across the country and attacks against police.