Confinement announced by Macron
The rumours were confirmed last night when President Emmanuel Macron took to the screen to announce another stage of lockdown beginning at midnight tonight, between Thursday 29th and Friday 30th October.
Key info
- Confinement will be in place for 4 weeks with a current end date of 1st December
- Most of the same restrictions apply as during the first confinement in spring
- Schools, colleges and lycées remain open
- Gatherings of anyone outside your immediate household is forbidden, both in the street and in private
- Non-essential businesses and businesses usually open to the public will be closed
Attestations
You can leave your home for one of the following reasons:
- work
- medical appointments
- to help a loved one
- do the shopping
- exercise/pet exercise around your home
You will need to complete and carry with you either a paper or an electronic version of the attestations (explained in more detail here).
Financial help for businesses
The financial help provided for businesses has increased to 10,000€ per month to cover losses with additional measures being put into place for costs and rents.
A special plan will be announced for small and medium sized businesses.
The chômage partiel programme will continue function to cover the wages of employees.
Differences
As mentioned above, the education system up to and including lycées will remain open with additional sanitary measures put in place. Universities will conduct their lessons entirely online.
Visits to retirement homes and hospitals will be allowed, again with strict hygiene measures in place and those with disabilities will be accorded more flexibility.
Macron assured listeners that “work will continue” : public service offices and services will remain open and functional; factories, farms and building works will also be able to continue operating.
Travel
Movement is restricted to the strict minimum. For those who are already on holiday during the half term break, the coming weekend will be a period of grace for them to return home. Cemeteries will be open for All Saints celebrations
Otherwise, crossing regional and national borders is no longer allowed, with the exception of French citizens and residents returning home.
More info
Prime Minsiter Jean Castex will be making a further announcement this evening at 6.30pm with more details. We will post a summary tomorrow.
