Weekend lockdown for Dunkirk area as 10 departments under watch

But national infection rates are rising. Health Minister Olivier Veran said the region around Dunkirk, a port across the English Channel from Britain currently recording more than 900 new cases per 100,000 residents per week, would go into lockdown from Friday night to Monday morning.

France's government on Wednesday ordered a weekend lockdown in the Dunkirk area to arrest an "alarming" rise in COVID-19 cases, as it signalled restrictions might also be needed in about 10 other regional departments including greater Paris. Unlike some of its neighbours, France has resisted a new national lockdown to control more contagious coronavirus variants, hoping a curfew in place since Dec. 15 can contain the pandemic. But national infection rates are rising.

Health Minister Olivier Veran said the region around Dunkirk, a port across the English Channel from Britain currently recording more than 900 new cases per 100,000 residents per week, would go into lockdown from Friday night to Monday morning. Government spokesman Gabriel Attal said the national situation was deteriorating, and "a source of worry in about 10 regional departments and some regions require rapid and strong measures."

The government was however doing all it could to avoid a new national lockdown, he reiterated. "We have shown in regions such as Moselle and Alpes-Maritimes that, when the situation requires it, we can act quickly," he told reporters after a cabinet meeting.

The Alpes-Maritimes Mediterranean coastal region around Nice announced a partial lockdown over the next two weekends on Monday. Veran said the lockdown in Dunkirk, which has a population of 92,000 and where the more contagious UK COVID-19 variant has been gaining ground, would be of similar duration.

In Nice, infection rates surged following an inflow of tourists over the Christmas holiday. Veran said he would communicate the list of "high-risk" departments at his weekly news conference on Thursday.

France reported 20,064 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, up from the previous Tuesday's 19,590. Cumulative cases rose to 3.63 million, the sixth highest in the world, and fatalities by 431 to 85,044 - the seventh highest toll globally.

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