France and Poland step up lockdown measures as infections spike

PARIS: France and Poland have reintroduced partial lockdowns after COVID-19 infection cases spiked in recent weeks.

Some 21 million people in 16 areas of France, including the capital Paris, are affected as the country fears a third wave, BBC reported.

In Poland, shops, hotels, cultural and sporting facilities are closed across the country for three weeks.

The country has the highest new daily rates of Covid cases since November.
Coronavirus cases are also rising exponentially in Germany, with Chancellor Angela Merkel warning it is likely that the country will now need to apply an “emergency brake” and re-impose lockdown measures.

The vaccine rollout across the European Union has been hindered by delayed deliveries as well as the suspension in several countries of the use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, over fears of possible side effects.

In France, the partial lockdown took effect from midnight on Friday.
Trains leaving Paris for parts of the country where lockdown restrictions do not apply, such as Brittany and Lyon, were reportedly fully booked hours before the measures were due to come into effect.

France has reported more than 4.2 million infections since the start of the outbreak, with nearly 92,000 Covid-related deaths, according to the data compiled by America’s Johns Hopkins University.

(With inputs from BBC)