No decision yet on third French lockdown - minister

The government has not yet decided whether France will move into a third lockdown to curb the coronavirus epidemic and notably the circulation of new variants of the virus, French European Affairs minister Clement Beaune said on Monday.

"Nothing has yet been decided. There are scenarios (on the table) but no decision yet," Beaune told Radio Classique when asked if a lockdown could be announced as early as this week.

France probably needs to move into a third lockdown, perhaps as early as the February school holidays, because of the circulation of the new variants, the government's top medical adviser Jean-Francois Delfraissy on COVID-19 policy had said on Sunday.