France to shut down due to Coronavirus

Since midnight last night, all public places, that is, restaurants, bars, cinemas, schools, etc. have been closed in France. Only the children of medical staff who have to keep working will go to school while other children will continue their studies via computers and the internet.

These drastic new measures were announced last night by Prime Minister Edouard Philippe. Speaking on live television, he said:

“I have decided on the closure until further notice from midnight of places that receive the public that are non-essential to the life of the country. This includes notably cafés, restaurants, cinemas and discos.”

“We have noticed an acceleration in the spread of the virus and a rise in the number of people in intensive care,” he told reporters at a news conference.

The only stores allowed to stay open are food stores and pharmacies. Public transport and government offices will also remain open, although government employees will work from home, where possible.

The Prime Minister appealed to the entire population to comply with the measures “in a disciplined way”.

At about the same time, an announcement came from Morocco that it has stopped all flights to and from France. Hundreds of French holidaymakers were stranded at Ménara International Airport in Marrakesh. Some of them were trying to get new flights to Turkey and then to Switzerland from where they could get back to France.

Over the past 72 hours, the number of infections in France has doubled and emergency services are being overloaded. People with minor symptoms are asked not to call the emergency number 15, unless they suffer from acute breathing problems.

Retired doctors, nurses as well as medical students are fully mobilized to cope with the epidemic.

The virus does not simply attack the elderly and sick people. More than fifty percent of the serious cases are people under sixty, according to the French Health Ministry.