PARIS: France probably needs to move into a third lockdown, perhaps as early as the February school holidays, because of the circulation of new variants of the virus, the government’s top medical adviser on COVID-19 policy said on Sunday.
French schoolchildren have two weeks off in February, but the entire month is a holiday month as three different zones stagger the start of their holidays by one week, with the first starting on Feb. 6.
“We probably need to go towards a confinement. Whether that needs to be a very strict confinement like the first one in March or a softer form like in November, that is a political decision,” Jean-François Delfraissy, head of the scientific council that advises the government on COVID-19 response, told BFM television.
The government will meet on Wednesday to decide whether it needs to take extra measures.
“If we do not tighten regulations, we will find ourselves in an extremely difficult situation from mid-March,” Delfraissy said.
He said…