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The French government said Wednesday it was girding for a possible surge in coronavirus cases in coming months but would not respond to any new outbreak with another nationwide lockdown.
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"My aim is to prepare France for a possible second wave while preserving our daily life, our economic and social life," new Prime Minister Jean Castex said in an interview on RTL television.
"But we're not going to impose a lockdown like the one we did last March, because we've learned… that the economic and human consequences from a total lockdown are disastrous," he said.
Instead, any business closures or stay-at-home orders would be "targeted" to specific areas, he said.
"The coronavirus is still here," Castex warned, adding that he would travel on Sunday to France's South American territory of French Guiana, which is reeling from a surge in cases. Officials reported 124 new cases in the territory on Tuesday, bringing the total to nearly 5,200, and the government has dispatched dozens of health workers from the mainland as well as a field hospital.
Second wave expected
The head of France's national health agency, Jérôme Salomon, said authorities were anticipating a second wave of Covid-19 cases "this autumn or this winter", depending on a seasonal impact that remains uncertain.
"What we have to understand is that the epidemic's resurgence will basically depend on our behaviour," he said in an interview with French newspaper Le Figaro.
Even as millions of people prepare to relax over the summer holiday seasons, Salomon urged continued social distancing and the use of face masks, "especially in crowded places and indoors".
France ended its two-month lockdown on May 11. Setting out the principles behind the governments actions in a speech on April 28, Castex's predecessor Édouard Philippe emphasised that “we will have to live with the virus”. He hailed the lockdown by pointing to a study suggesting that confinement prevented “70,000 deaths” in France, adding that its “positive effects outweighed its negative effects”.
But he argued that “lengthy lockdown” would have “negative repercussions”, including “children not going to school”, a “lack of visits” between family and friends, and a “lack of investment”. All this put the economy at risk of “falling apart”, Philippe said.
As the civil servant in charge of easing Frances lockdown at the time, Castex appeared to take a somewhat different view on renewed confinement measures. In a report published on May 11, he argued that France should consider the “possibility of an emergency rethink” in the case of a surge in cases.
'Protect people'
Castex was named by President Emmanuel Macron last week to lead a new government tasked with orchestrating the country's recovery from its worst health and economic crisis since World War II.
Billions of euros have been promised for investments as well as measures to limit job losses in an economy eRead More – Source
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