France must face up to a toughening of traffic conditions, with the lowering of the national curfew to 6 p.m. on Saturday.
Other measures were also put forward by the government on Thursday evening.
At the international level, the WHO must issue its recommendations on the variants on Friday.
Follow the evolution of the situation live.
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The day after the government press conference on the evolution of the coronavirus epidemic, France saw its last day without a national curfew at 6 p.m. on Friday.
The executive also presented measures in favor of schools and students.
Aid to businesses has been stepped up, in particular the Solidarity Fund.
In addition, travelers arriving from a country outside the European Union will now have to present a negative test to enter the territory.
The World Health Organization for its part estimated that the British variant of the virus was present in about fifty countries, with recommendations announced on Friday.
Follow the evolution of the situation live.
The main information to remember:
The curfew is extended to 6 p.m. nationwide from Saturday
The government presented a strengthened health protocol in schools and measures for students
69,313 dead: the epidemic stabilizes at a high level
WHO should decide on variants during the day
Reconfinement in Portugal, two million dead worldwide
Last day without national curfew at 6 p.m.
As expected, Jean Castex announced the extension of the curfew to 6 p.m. across the country, from Saturday evening, for at least 15 days.
"Except for the exceptions linked to public service missions, all places, businesses or services open to the public will be closed at 6 pm," said the head of government.
"This measure has health efficiency. In the first 15 departments which have implemented this curfew, the increase in new cases is two to three times lower than in the other departments", justified the Prime Minister.
"Viral circulation now concerns all territories. No more department has an incidence rate lower than the rate of 50 / 100,000 inhabitants", he continued.
Schools, vaccination, aid… government announcements
Jean Castex also warned: if the health situation were to deteriorate, the government would be forced to carry out a new confinement.
"I want to be clear with everyone: if we see an epidemic deterioration, we will decide on a new containment", he warned.
The government has announced a strengthening of the health protocol in force in schools, especially in school canteens.
Indoor school and extra-curricular sports activities will also be suspended until further notice.
The executive also unveiled measures in favor of students, deprived of lessons for many months.
The tutorials (TD) will thus be able to resume in half-groups for first-year students from January 25.
Vaccination will be open to people with "one of the six pathologies leading to a very high risk of the severe form of the disease" from Monday, regardless of their age.
"More than 700 centers" of vaccination will be opened Monday, also announced the Prime Minister.
The Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, announced a strengthening of aid measures for businesses, which we will summarize for you here.
Finally, a negative test will now be required for all travelers arriving in France from a country outside the European Union.
These people will also have to "undertake on the honor to isolate themselves for seven days once they arrive in France, then to repeat a second PCR test at the end", added the Prime Minister.
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Curfew at 6 pm, schools, trips… What to remember from government announcements
69,313 dead, the epidemic stabilizes at a high level
France counted 69,313 dead from the coronavirus Thursday evening, or 282 more than the day before.
Hospital data is up slightly, with 25,017 patients hospitalized because of the coronavirus, or 248 more in 24 hours.
As for serious cases in intensive care, there are now 2,726, or 25 more compared to the last score.
More than 21,000 new cases were detected in 24 hours, compared to nearly 24,000 on Wednesday.
Thursday evening, Jean Castex welcomed the absence of an epidemic outbreak after the end of the year holidays.
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Variants: imminent WHO recommendations
The emergency committee of the World Health Organization (WHO) met Thursday, two weeks in advance, to discuss the variants of Sars-CoV-2, much more contagious.
Recommendations for WHO and member countries are due to be made public following the meeting, likely Friday.
The number of countries and territories where the variant initially spotted in the UK is found stands at 50, and it is 20 for the variant identified in South Africa, according to the WHO.
A third mutation detected in Japan and originating in the Brazilian Amazon could impact the immune response.
Reconfinement in Portugal, Merkel wants tighter restrictions
The
Portugal
submitted from Friday in a second containment "generalized" to curb the epidemic, which reached new records in the country.
The new health restrictions, which will remain in force for at least a month, will correspond "essentially" to those which had been decided in March and April, he said after an extraordinary cabinet meeting.
Chancellor Angela Merkel, for her part, pleaded Thursday evening for significantly increased restrictions in
Germany
, where partial confinement is already imposed, and asked for a meeting of the authorities as early as next week.
Nearly 2 million dead, first death in China since May
The resurgence of the virus is also hitting China, which had largely controlled the epidemic but on Thursday recorded its first death from Covid-19 since last May.
In addition, a team of WHO scientists tasked with shedding light on the origin of the coronavirus arrived Thursday in Wuhan, in central China, where the virus was first reported in late 2019. team has been placed in quarantine except for two members stranded in Singapore to re-test for Covid after testing positive.
The pandemic has killed nearly two million people worldwide since the end of December 2019, according to an assessment established Thursday by AFP from official sources.
The United States is the most affected country in terms of both deaths and cases, with 388,159 deaths, followed by Brazil (207,095), India (151,727), Mexico (137,916) and the United Kingdom (84,767) ).