French government defends fresh measures against virus surge
France’s prime minister has defended new nationwide measures to combat a resurgent coronavirus in France that include closing schools for at least three weeks and putting in place a month-long domestic travel ban
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.France's prime minister on Thursday defended new nationwide measures to combat a resurgent coronavirus in France that include closing schools for at least three weeks and putting in place a month-long domestic travel ban, saying the government has acted “consistently and pragmatically.”
The National Assembly France’s lower house, voted to approve the new measures Thursday by 348-9, after opposition parties boycotted the vote en masse.
Jean-Luc Melenchon of the leftist La France Insoumise party denounced the vote as a “bad April fool’s." Dismissing the measures as half-baked, he urged President Emmanuel Macron to increase vaccine supplies and adopt a more effective vaccine strategy.
On Thursday the World Health Organization issued criticism of Europe’s vaccine rollout as being “unacceptably slow.”
Prime Minister Jean Castex said “the vaccination campaign is progressing and is being simplified every day. We have now reason to believe that we are advancing along the path of the possible exit to the crisis.”
He said more than 8 million people in France have received at least one dose of vaccine.
In the southern Paris suburb of Antony, faced with a surge in COVID cases, parents and teachers mostly welcomed announcements that schools were to close on Friday for three weeks, earlier than the scheduled Easter break.
Some headteachers welcomed the plans, saying the virus had put too many strains on staffing.
“We’d reached a point where everything was falling apart. ... We were all close to exhaustion,” said Aline Becker, an elementary and preschool headteacher.
The French government has announced there will be help for the poorest families to cope financially, amid high or impossible childcare costs. Castex confirmed aid for “modest families whose children will no longer go to the canteen or will no longer be able to enjoy free breakfasts.”
___
Follow AP’s pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic, https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak