France probably needs new COVID-19 lockdown - top government adviser

France probably needs to move into a third lockdown because of the circulation of new variants of the virus in the country, the government's top medical advisor on COVID-19 policy said on Sunday. He said it would make sense to make the new lockdown coincide with upcoming school holidays in February and to extend the holidays by at least a week.

France probably needs to move into a third lockdown because of the circulation of new variants of the virus in the country, the government's top medical advisor on COVID-19 policy said on Sunday. "If we do not tighten regulations, we will find ourselves in an extremely difficult situation from mid-March ... We probably need to lock down again," Jean-François Delfraissy said on BFM television.

"This is a critical week, politicians must decide," he added. He said it would make sense to make the new lockdown coincide with upcoming school holidays in February and to extend the holidays by at least a week.

Also Read: France detects COVID-19 variant first found in England