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HEALTH

French government extends 6pm curfew to whole country as Covid cases rise

French Prime Minister Jean Castex announced on Thursday that a 6pm to 6am nighttime curfew will be extended throughout mainland France and warned that if epidemic detioriated then a new lockdown would be imposed.

Published: 14 January 2021 17:23 CET
Updated: 15 January 2021 14:44 CET
French government extends 6pm curfew to whole country as Covid cases rise
Prime Minister Jean Castex once again be updated the nation on the health rules. Photo: AFP

The 6pm curfew would begin on Saturday and will remain in force for at least 15 days, Castex told a news  conference.

“Our situation is under control compared to our European neighbours but fragile because the virus is still circulating actively throughout the country,” the PM said.

He added that there was also an additional element of danger with the emergence of new, more contagious variants of the virus.

“The situation is still worrying,” he added, outlining that France now registered a weekly average of around 16,000 new Covid-19 cases per day and that hospital patient numbers, while not rising, had plateaued at a  “high level”.

The number of Covid patients in hospital in the first and second waves. Graphic: Health ministry

“The spread of this new variant of the virus remains limited, but. . . it could gain in strength,” he said.

France is registered 200-300 cases a day of the 'UK variant' of the virus.

The whole of France is already subject to an 8pm to 6am curfew, but the earlier curfew had been brought in for 25 départements in eastern and south-eastern France where case numbers rose sharply after Christmas.

Castex said infections were now rising faster in the west of the country than the east. Covid-19 rates in départements subject to a 6pm since January 2nd were rising “two to three times” lower than in the rest of the country, the PM said.

As with the 8pm curfew, travel outside the home during curfew will only be allowed for essential reasons.

Shops and businesses open to the public must close at 6pm, but people will be allowed to stay at work later and travel home – a large number of French offices usually work until 7pm.

People will also be allowed to pick up children from school or crèche after 6pm, although an exemption certificate, available on smartphones, will be needed for all these trips.

Breaking curfew attracts a €135 fine for the first offence, rising to €3,750 and six months in jail for three offences within 30 days.

EXPLAINED The rules of France's new 6pm curfew

'Lockdown if situation worsens'

The prime minister ruled out a third lockdown for now and did not impose localised lockdowns as some local authorities had requested.

However he stressed that, if the curfew did not succeed in slowing down the spread of the virus, “we must prepare for another lockdown.”

“If the health situation sharply deteriorates in the coming days, we will immediately impose another lockdown,” he said.

Schools to stay open

Schools will remain open but with reinforced health rules and the suspension of all indoor sports and activities. School canteens will also remain open but pupils from different classes would not be able to eat together.

A mass testing programme for schools was announced, with the aim of testing 300,000 pupils and staff per week, one million a month.

Border rules tightened

The Prime Minister also tightened up border controls, saying that all arrivals from outside the EU (including the UK) will now have to present a negative Covid-19 test before boarding transport. On arrival in France they will need to self-isolate for seven days and then take a second test.

Find the full rules HERE.

'700 vaccination centres'

On the subject of vaccines the PM said over a million people in France will have received the jab by the end of the month.

From Friday, people in eligible groups will be able to book an appointment online or over the phone to be vaccinated while from January 18th – anyone over 75 or with serious underlying health conditions whatever their age, will be eligible for the vaccine from this date.

France will open 700 vaccination centres throughout the country by the end of the month.

Castex also defended the decision to prioritise vaccines for the elderly and health workers, instead of trying to vaccinate as much of the general population as soon as possible.

“The sooner we can vaccinate the most vulnerable, the sooner our hospitals will be spared the risk of being overwhelmed,” he said.

Covid-19 case numbers in France have been showing a slow but steady rise in recent weeks and on Wednesday it registered 23,852 new cases.

This is far from the 50,000 new cases a day recorded when France enacted its second lockdown at the end October, but the rise is still worrying health officials – especially when coupled with fears over the new variant of the virus first discovered in the UK which is believed to be more infectious.

France is also in a markedly better position than many of its neighbours – daily death tolls in both the UK and Germany have topped 1,000 recently while France on Wednesday recorded 232 Covid-related deaths.

READ ALSO 'Tipping point' – why Europe is increasingly alarmed at new Covd-19 variants

Case numbers per million inhabitants among European countries. Graphic: Health ministry

Since the announcement of the variant anglais of the virus there have been strict controls on travel from the UK, with travel only allowed for essential reasons and everyone needing a negative Covid test to enter France.

Member comments

  4. We are also talking about the South African and Brazilian variants so these are, for now, just names. The U.S. is using the exact same names, and it is clear that banning citizens of countries with new variants is likely to be high on the agenda

  5. So the.govt has fudged it again, and just kicked the can another 15 days down the road. They’ll just keep half-assing it in the hope that the numbers drop when enough ppl have the vaccine.

  6. its all just politics. The variant in UK was already spreading since october. They only realised it became dominant in december. That means, there was already a lot of time for the variant to spread across europe – its just, that no other country was actively sequencing the genome of the SARS-COV2 that is circulating.
    At the end of the day, we will never know where it came from and it doesnt matter. Its the same story as with the original SARS-cov2 (“wuhan/china virus”) which later people realized was already spreading in italy/france mid of 2019.

  8. Well it is good news really – there has been no major spike in infections post Christmas (especially when compared to the UK and Ireland) and the stricter curfew has already had a positive impact in the east of France, so it is sensible to impose this nationally.

    Overall, not a whole lot to moan about (but I appreciate for some of you this is the only thing you know how to do, so carry on).

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HEALTH

How serious is the threat from dengue fever in France?

As tiger mosquitoes are now present in over 80 percent of mainland France, health authorities are worried that local transmission of tropical diseases, like dengue fever, will increase.

Published: 14 June 2024 15:15 CEST
How serious is the threat from dengue fever in France?

As of January 2024, tiger mosquitoes – known for their ability to carry diseases such as dengue, chikungunya and Zika virus – had been detected in 78 of France’s 96 mainland départements, including the Paris region.

This has left public health authorities concerned about the spread of dengue fever in France, particularly this summer as large crowds are expected amid the Olympic Games.

READ MORE: MAP: Tiger mosquitoes reach northern France

How common is dengue fever in France?

In the first four months of 2024, 1,679 cases of dengue fever were identified in mainland France, a number that is 13 times higher than the same period last year, Le Parisien reported.

Crucially, however, none of these are believed to have been contracted in mainland France – they were all reported among patients who had recently travelled from the tropical regions where dengue fever is common.

The majority of cases were from people who had visited the Caribbean islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe – where the disease is endemic.

These islands are for administrative purposes part of France – so often show up in French health data – but they are roughly 7,000km away from Paris.

So far, there have not been any indigenous cases (autochtone – or people infected on mainland French soil) yet this year.

Local transmission of the disease remains relatively rare. In 2023, nine separate outbreaks of indigenous dengue transmission were identified, one of which occurred in the Paris region. These led to 45 cases of local transmission (in mainland France).

Most were in southern France – in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, Occitanie and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regions – though one outbreak occurred in the Paris region, according to French public health authorities.

This is less than 2022, which was a notable year with 66 total cases of indigenous dengue fever were recorded. In comparison, between 2010 and 2021, only 48 cases (total) were recorded.

What to expect for 2024

Experts believe that the number of cases in France, including indigenous ones, will grow this year, as tiger mosquitoes now occupy more territory in mainland France.

On top of that, the number of cases has increased significantly in Martinique and Guadeloupe.

“What we see in France is a mirror image of what is happening in the French Caribbean, and more widely in Latin America and the rest of the Caribbean, where dengue fever has been circulating since the start of the year at unprecedented levels”, the head of Santé Publique France, Dr Caroline Semaille, said during a press conference.

The Olympic Games will also bring an influx of tourists from all over the world, and weather conditions are expected to be conducive to mosquitoes – a year with a lot of rainfall, and potentially high temperatures. 

What is dengue fever?

The disease is spread to people from bites by infected mosquitoes.

The most common symptoms are high fever, chills, abdominal, joint and muscle pains, and vomiting. It can also cause a skin rash that resembles measles, according to France’s Institut Pasteur.

Symptoms usually begin three to 14 days (with an average of four to seven) after being bitten.

However people are asymptomatic in 50 to 90 percent of cases (depending on the epidemic), which can make monitoring difficult.

At-risk groups include the immunocompromised, children and the elderly, who are more likely to suffer from severe forms of the disease.

Deaths from the disease are very rare, occurring in around 0.01 percent of all cases, almost all in countries that have poor healthcare systems.

How can I avoid tiger mosquitoes?

Female tiger mosquitoes lay their eggs in water, and they can lay several hundred eggs at once. Therefore try to avoid having any standing water outside your home and be aware of the items that might collect rainwater.

This includes regularly emptying vases, flower pots, as well as watering cans and pots. If you want to collect rainwater, you could cover water butts with mosquito nets or fabric to keep the mosquitoes from getting inside.

READ ALSO 5 plants that (allegedly) repel mosquitoes

You can also keep your gutters clean – this helps to keep the water flowing when it rains, and it avoids any stagnant pools from building up.

To protect yourself, try to wear long, loose and light-coloured clothing, in addition to insect repellent. You might also consider wearing a mosquito net head gear.

The main difference between tiger mosquitoes and other species would be getting a bite during the day, and the fact that tiger mosquitoes are likely to bite several times. You can tell for sure if it was a tiger mosquito by seeing the insect itself. They are also silent.

There is no immediate cause for alarm if you are bitten, in almost all cases the bites are just itchy and annoying. In very rare cases, tropical diseases can be spread by the mosquitoes – seek medical help if you develop a high fever and rash.

READ MORE: How to prevent the spread of tiger mosquitoes in France

What do tiger mosquitoes look like?

They are very small, about 5 mm, and they have a highly contrasting colour, with black and white stripes on their body and legs.

If you believe you have spotted a tiger mosquito, you can report it to public health authorities online.

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