(© Christian Leiber/OnP)

The French government has announced that it has added new departments to the list of zones where the novel coronavirus is in active circulation.

According to a Decree published yesterday, seven new departments were added to the already existing list of red COVID-19 zones.

New areas where COVID-19 is in active circulation are Corse-du-Sud and Haute-Corse on the island of Corsica, as well as Côte-d’Or, Nord, Bas-Rhin, and Seine-Maritime on the mainland, along with the Réunion Island in the Indian Ocean. These departments cover major French cities such as Lille, Strasbourg, and Dijon.

For a department to be declared a red zone, its infection rate with COVID-19 must exceed 50 new infection cases per 100,000 inhabitants during the course of one week. In such a case, the department’s prefecture is granted special powers to enact measures to fight COVID-19 based on the epidemiological data.

Out of 101 French departments, 28 have been declared the red zones, including Paris.

Major French Opera houses are set to open their 2020-21 seasons. For now, there is no mention of how the country’s new measures will affect the incoming performances.