France will go into lockdown from Friday to fight a surge in cases of COVID-19, President Emmanuel Macron has said in a televised address to the nation.
Schools and creches will remain open, he added.
The development of the virus in France has exceeded “even the most realistic projections”, the president said.
While past working should be carried out where feasible, Macron said citizens will be able to leave their homes for basic work plans, medical offices, to help weak people and to do grocery purchasing.
People in France will be expected to fill out a form to leave their houses.
France’s international borders will remain mostly settled and mandatory rapid testing would be introduced for anyone coming joining the country, said Macron.
The new rules will be reassessed every 15 days to see if they are running well, he added.
The restrictions added in the last few weeks, which included limits in some of the worst-hit areas of France, were deficient in combatting a second wave, the leader added.
A “special plan” will be conceived to help the self-employed, shopkeepers, as well as VSEs and SMEs that are impacted financially by the lockdown and workers who are unable to work will avail from a furlough scheme and receive cash for payments and rent in the coming weeks.
Macron said he hoped that French families could feast Christmas and New Year together after the national lockdown was over.
“I’m asking for a very big push, let’s hold out for 15 days. If within 15 days, we can better control the state, we can then reassess things and probably open some shops, mainly in this important period before the Christmas holidays,” he said.
France’s COVID-19 deaths are currently at the highest level since the peak of the pandemic in April and 33,000 new cases of the virus reported on Tuesday.