France closes non-EU borders and prepares for a third lockdown

Emmanuel Macron seeks to avoid the option of a third hard lockdown.  The coronavirus epidemic persists and France has decided to close its borders and begin imposing stronger measures.

The decision was announced by the French Prime Minister, Jean Castex, who said, "Any entry and exit from our territory to or from a country outside the European Union will be prohibited, except for necessary reasons, starting Sunday."

Speculation swirled as to whether Emmanuel Macron would announce another total shutdown, fueled by a fear of the English variant, which is spreading well beyond the UK.

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However, measures were announced over the weekend that demonstrate the government's intention is to avoid a third lockdown and reinforce the curfew at 6pm, which is effective.  In addition, 'non-food shopping centers’ larger than 20,000 square meters will be prohibited from opening as they encourage excessive gathering. 

The French Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, reiterated at a press conference that the country "is not in a phase of strong epidemic growth", the "preventive" lockdown seems inevitable in the face of a plateau of infections around 18- 20,000 cases per day now stable for several weeks.

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