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Three more areas of France placed on ‘lockdown light’ as Covid cases soar

Three additional areas of France have been placed on 'lockdown light' bringing the total number to 19 départements subject to extra restrictions amid a worrying rise in case numbers.

Published: 25 March 2021 18:02 CET
Three more areas of France placed on 'lockdown light' as Covid cases soar
French health minister Olivier Véran. Photo: Martin Bureau/AFP

On March 19th, the départements of Aisne, Nord, Oise, Pas-de-Calais, Somme, Paris, Seine-et-Marne, Yvelines, Essonne, Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis, Val-de-Marne, Val-d’Oise, Alpes-Maritimes, Eure, Seine-Maritime were placed on lockdown light.

Now from midnight on Friday, March 26th the départements of Rhône (including the city of Lyon), Nièvre and Aube will join them in the extra measures, which will run for an initial period of four weeks.

The extra measures come as France recorded 45,000 new cases of Covid on Wednesday – approaching the 50,000 daily cases seen before France’s second strict, nationwide lockdown was imposed in the autumn.

Announcing the measures, Health Minister Olivier Véran said the situation was now very serious, but that it was ‘too early’ to look at another nationwide lockdown, pointing to wide regional variations in case numbers and hospital pressure. “Finistère is not the same as Seine-Saint-Denis,” he added.

But he warned: “In the coming days, the pressure on the health system will continue to increase.”

The rules in the ‘lockdown light’ areas are not as strict as the lockdowns in spring or autumn, but non-essential shops are closed, travel between regions banned and the attestation permission form needed for some trips out of the home.

Schools remain open, although in high schools (lycées) teaching moves to half online and half in-person classes.

After rising case numbers in schools, especially in the Paris region, there had been calls for them to be closed, but Véran reiterated that this would be a last resort for the government.

READ ALSO These are the rules in the areas of France on ‘lockdown light’

The government has also launched a new communications campaign urging people to take any socialising outdoors and avoid meeting people inside.

Véran said: “This is no lockdown. There are fifty shades of measures that all take into account the epidemic situation and what we know about the virus.”

The situation in the greater Paris Île-de-France region, which has now been on ‘lockdown light’ for a week, is particularly worrying.

“The pressure on hospitals has reached a critical level” in the Paris region, Véran said. 

“There are 1,400 Covid patients in intensive care, the patients are younger, sometimes without underlying illnesses.

“The profile of people who arrive in ICUs has changed. We’re seeing an increased risk of being admitted into ICU for people between 15 and 67 years old.”

Véran said 2,200 new hospital beds will be added to the 1,500 already existing in the greater Paris region, of which Covid patients now occupy 1,400.

The health minister said hospitals had deprogrammed between 35 and 40 percent of their scheduled medical procedures, aiming to reach 80 percent.

 
 

Member comments

  1. Among our French neighbours and acquantances there seems little resistance to getting the jab. We have spoken to various workmen and women, some in their thirties or older and all say that they will take the vaccine, We’ve had our first Pfizer jab with no side effects but perhaps the Astra is not so popular and people are a bit wary of it.

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CRIME

Jail threat for ‘influencers’ under tough new French law

Influencers in France face the threat of prison sentences or major fines under new legislation adopted by parliament on Thursday that is aimed at cracking down on undeclared advertising and fraud.

Published: 1 June 2023 17:16 CEST
Jail threat for 'influencers' under tough new French law

Touted as an effort to ensure online personalities face the same advertising rules as traditional media, the bill has made its way through parliament with cross-party support since March, culminating with a vote by the Senate on Thursday.

“The law of the jungle is over,” said Arthur Delaporte of the opposition Socialist Party who jointly sponsored the legislation with Stephane Vojetta from the ruling Renaissance party.

“We can be proud of this unprecedented agreement,” senator Amel Gacquerre, who piloted the legislation in the senate, said after the vote.

France is estimated to have around 150,000 influencers, many of whom have a modest audience, but some have millions of subscribers and help set trends in sectors from fashion to video games.

Their commercial activities – accepting money in exchange for promoting a product – are often undeclared and until now they have lacked a specific legal status in France.

The legislation will in theory force them to post the word “advertising” or “commercial partnership” when discussing products they have been paid to advertise, and make a formal contract mandatory.

It prohibits the promotion of cosmetic surgery, tobacco and some financial products and medical devices.

It also tightens rules for promoting sports betting and lottery games, which will be restricted to platforms that have the capacity to prohibit access to minors such as YouTube.

Violators of the rules could face punishments of up to two years in prison and €300,000 fines.

“The party is over for all of those that think you can cheat on the internet,” Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire declared earlier this month.

“Influencers create jobs, value. They are in the most part extremely creative, imaginative and bring a lot to the French economy,” he told the BFM channel. “Then there are few troublemakers who manipulate, who use their role badly, and cheat consumers.”

Some experts say police and prosecutors will face difficulties enforcing the rules for such a huge number of online creators, however, with many of them based overseas in different jurisdictions but viewable in France.

A high-profile campaign against fraudulent influencers has been led in recent months by controversial French rapper Booba who has dubbed them “Influ-stealers”.

In messages and videos posted to his millions of social media followers, he has called himself a whistle-blower and targeted leading personality Magali Berdah in particular, the boss of influencer agency Shauna Events.

“Apart from having no talent, from promoting vacuous culture, of being idiots and not paying their taxes in France, they’re ripping people off,” he told French newspaper Libération last July.

Berdah denies wrongdoing and has launched legal action.

A collective called AVI (Help for the Victims of Influencers) has begun launching legal action on behalf of people who consider themselves victims of online financial fraud.

One of their targets is well-known French couple Marc and Nade Blata, who offer investment advice while showing off their life of luxury in Dubai. They also deny wrongdoing.

Economy Minister Le Maire has backed Booba, saying he is “right to underline abuses.”

At the end of March, the Union of Influencers and Content Creators, set up recently to represent the sector, had welcomed “commendable and essential proposals” to regulate the industry.

But it warned parliamentarians against the risk of “discriminating against or over-regulating” certain players.

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