France extends Covid curfew to cover 46 million people: PM

23:18, October 22, 2020

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  France reports 32,427 new COVID-19 infections, hitting another one-day high

  Policemen patrol after the curfews in Lille, northern France, Oct. France reported 32,427 COVID-19 infections in the last 24 hours, a new high of daily tally, according to the data released by the Public Health Agency on Saturday. To stem the quick spread of the virus, the French government declared

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  France to implement curfew to stem coronavirus, says Macron

  PARIS, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- A curfew from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. will be implemented in the great Paris region and eight big cities in France starting from Friday midnight and last for at least four weeks to stem the spread of coronavirus, President Emmanuel Macron announced on Wednesday evening."A curfew will apply to the Ile-de-France region...and eight metropolitan areas -- Grenoble, Lille, Rouen, Lyon, Aix-Marseille, Saint-Etienne, Toulouse, Montpellier and Rouen," Macron said in a televised interview.France has been in a second wave of the coronavirus epidemic with an average of 20,000 new infection cases per day. "We have now entered a phase to which we must react...The virus is everywhere in France," Macron added.A hotel brand is pictured on August 6, 2020 in Paris, amid the crisis linked with the Covid-19 pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus. (Photo: AFP)The situation is worrying and the curfew is a "pertinent" measure while having the whole country locked down again would be "disproportionate", he explained."We have not lost control. We are in a situation which is worrying and which justifies that we are neither inactive nor in panic. We have learned from the first wave," Macron said.The curfew does not ban driving between 9 p.m. to 6 a.m., but travel will be strictly limited unless with good reasons. "We must continue to be able to go to work in all sectors," said Macron. "For those who have emergencies, health for example, there will be authorizations."Prime Minister Jean Castex will give a press conference on Thursday to unveil details of these measures, Macron added.

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  China's Qingdao tests 11 million after local COVID-19 cases emerge

  Qingdao, a coastal city in east China's Shandong Province, has vowed to complete a citywide nucleic acid testing campaign covering all 11 million residents within five days starting from Monday, after a new cluster of local COVID-19 infections emerged.94 million people had been sampled, while over 7