France is to return to lockdown for a month, starting from Saturday.
Addressing the nation on television today, French President Emmanuel Macron announced the order after a surge in Covid-19 cases, with the country approaching 100,000 deaths.
Macron has tried to avoid a third major lockdown amid accusations he let the crisis get out of control while trying to restart the economy.
The new restrictions are to cover the whole of mainland France and Corsica for four weeks, with schools and childcare closing, in an attempt to stem a resurgence in coronavirus infections.
France has seen daily new infections double from 20,000 in February to about 40,000 now, as hospitals in the capital Paris overflow.
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