Covid-19 second wave over in France

President Emmanuel Macron said has said that France will start easing its Covid-19 lockdown this weekend so that by Christmas, shops, theatres and cinemas will reopen and people will be able to spend the holiday with their families.

In a televised address to the nation, Macron said the worst of the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic in France was over, but that restaurants, cafes and bars would have to stay shut until Jan 20 to avoid triggering a third wave.

“We must do everything to avoid a third wave, do everything to avoid a third lockdown,” Macron said.

After curfew measures in major French cities in mid-October failed to produce the results the government had hoped for, it imposed a one-month lockdown on Oct 30, albeit less strict than a lockdown that ran from March 17 to May 11.

Positive trends including a decline in hospitalisations for Covid-19 infections, combined with pressure from business lobbies who say they are facing financial ruin, have led to calls to start loosening the lockdown as soon as possible.

Macron’s government is keen to stress to people they should expect only a gradual reopening of the economy.