French President Emmanuel Macron announced Wednesday that the country would move into another nationwide lockdown to prevent the spread of coronavirus as a second wave of the virus has cut rapidly across the nation, a report said.
The lockdown, which will go into effect Friday, will last until at least the end of November, the BBC reported.
Non-essential businesses will all be shuttered, but schools, and factories will remain open, according to the report.
Macron said the move was to prevent the threat of the country being “overwhelmed by a second wave that no doubt will be harder than the first.”
France has seen the highest number of daily deaths from the virus since spring and has logged tens of thousands of new cases every day, according to the BBC.
Macron said in a televised appearance that the country needed to “brutally apply the brakes” to stop the spread of the virus.
“The virus is circulating at a speed that not even the most pessimistic forecasts had anticipated,” he said.
In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel announced a partial lockdown Wednesday that would allow shops and schools to remain open, but force other non-essential businesses to close.
“We must act, and now, to avoid an acute national health emergency,” Merkel said in a videoconference.
