(Credit: Opéra National de Paris official website)

President of France Emmanuel Macron has declared a third nationwide lockdown.  The lockdown will last for four weeks starting April 4, 2021.

In a televized speech, Macron stated that the new SARS-CoV-2 variants are essentially a pandemic within a pandemic. “No region in France is now spared, and 44 percent of intensive care patients are now under 65 years old, ” said the French President.

“We must not give in to panic and to denial. In order to continue to protect our way of life in the present, we must each go the extra mile for the months to come. This is what I am asking of you collectively this evening,” added Macron.

Work from home will be systematized. All non-essential shops will be closed and travel between regions will be banned. Theaters, opera houses and concert halls will remain closed. An attestation for leaving home will be mandatory out of the 10 kilometers circle. Schools and universities will be closed for the period of 3 weeks.

Macron added that the government is working on a reopening plan that will begin in phases starting mid-May 2021.

France is undergoing a third wave of COVID-19 pandemic that is driven by the new and highly infectious SARS-CoV-2 variants. The country logged 30.702 new COVID-19 cases on March 30, 2021.