French President Emmanuel Macron has announced that France will be subject to a national lockdown again – one that will last for the whole of November at least.
In an address to nation this evening, Mr Macron said that France must now „apply the brakes brutality” to avoid being „submerged by the acceleration of the epidemic”.
The new lockdown measures are be reassessed every 15 days to see if they are working.
According to Euronews, France’s international borders will remain mostly closed and mandatory, rapid COVID-19 tests will be given to arrivals. However, EU borders will stay open and French citizens can come back into the country. More precise details on this should be provided by Prime Minister Jean Castex at 6.30pm on Thursday.
Après m’être exprimé devant l’Assemblée nationale et le Sénat, je détaillerai demain devant vous les nouvelles mesures qui seront mises en place par le Gouvernement pour lutter contre la deuxième vague de l’épidémie de #COVID19. pic.twitter.com/NqAso0kWId
— Jean Castex (@JeanCASTEX) October 28, 2020
During the lockdown, social contact will be limited to two households and bars, restaurants and leisure facilities will close. Public services and factories shall remain open, as will kindergartens and schools.
As reported by The Connexion, France recorded 69,854 new cases of coronavirus on Wednesday. Over 14,000 people have also been hospitalised because of Covid-19 in the last seven days, of which 2,057 were admitted to intensive care units.
Drivers can carry out their duties with an exemption form
Drivers are allowed to be mobile in France during the lockdown, provided that they do so as part of their work and have an exemption form issued by their employer.
This document is intended to indicate the places where the driver will carry out his work (if these are known in advance). It should therefore include all loading and unloading points to which the truck will arrive. The certificate must be signed by the employer or the person in charge of the company. In the case of a self-employed person, the driver may sign both the employer and employee section, provided that he performs the service concerned.
Failure to observe the France’s recent curfews was punishable with fines of up to €3,750 (in case of repeat offences). Once can expect similar punishments to be applied in the case of the lockdown.
Lorry drivers can download their exemption certificate on the website of the French Interior Ministry.
Please note that at the time of writing, the form linked on the page above refers to the curfew in force in a number of regions across France. The page will be updated by the French Interior Ministry shortly with the relevant for the lockdown, and may even have been updated by the time you read this.
Photo credit: pxfuel.com