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.