Poland, France imposes new lockdown to halt COVID-19 spread

The people of Poland and a third of the French people are waking up to new lockdowns on Saturday to differing degrees, in the latest bid by police to stem the rising coronavirus tide.

Saturday, 20th March 2021

Europe: The people of Poland and a third of the French people are waking up to new lockdowns on Saturday to differing degrees, in the latest bid by police to stem the rising coronavirus tide. Read More: EU countries to restart AstraZeneca vaccine after EMA said it is safe Much of Europe is undergoing a surge in infections, helping several countries to ponder fresh constraints faced with an continuing shortage of vaccines that Germany's health representative said left the continent unable to prevent a third wave of the pandemic. In France, some 21 million people are affected across 16 départements, in Paris and many of the north of the country as well as in Alpes-Maritimes in the south. Most shops are being met but the French can leave their homes for extensive periods within a 10-kilometre radius. Travel between regions is forbidden unless for urgent reasons. Read More: NHS warns there will be massive reduction in supply of vaccines The measures are more flexible and less confining than a year ago, when the first lockdown was imposed on the country as the new disease took hold. Despite an increasingly precarious situation in hospitals with a rise in COVID-19 patients, the government-backed off getting a tough lockdown. Hours before the new measures took effect, some 400 kilometres of traffic jams are recorded around the outskirts of the French capital as people left the city to avoid the impact. The volume of traffic and train reservations were also both up by 20% on normal levels, France's transport minister said, figuring that there was much less than just before the start of the second lockdown last autumn. Read More: Sarah Everard Murder: People continue to demand justice in the UK For Poland the new lockdown, required for three weeks, is nationwide — albeit less restrictive than the one required a year ago. More people in the central European nation are on many respirators than at any time since the start of the pandemic, and children make up a larger percentage of those hospitalised. After the Polish government eased restrictions in February, the movie is an about-turn running on the trend in many other European countries — allowing hotels, museums, cinemas, theatres, and swimming pools to open under conditions.