(Fighting against new crown pneumonia) France further tightens epidemic control and will close borders to non-EU countries
China News Service, Paris, January 29 (Reporter Li Yang) On the 29th local time, French officials decided to further tighten epidemic control. French Prime Minister Castay announced a series of specific measures that night, announcing that France will close its borders to non-EU countries.
The new crown pneumonia epidemic data released by the French Ministry of Health that night showed that France had 22,858 newly confirmed cases in a single day on the 29th, and the cumulative number of confirmed cases exceeded 3.15 million, reaching 3,153,487.
The number of deaths from new coronary pneumonia in France is now 75620, with 820 new deaths.
The number of inpatients with the new crown in France is now 27,308, an increase of 142 from the previous day; the number of severely ill patients is now 3130, an increase of 19 from the previous day.
The French National Defense Council held a meeting on the evening of the 29th to discuss the response to the epidemic. One day earlier than originally planned, French President Macron presided over the meeting.
The officials decided through the meeting to further tighten epidemic control.
French Prime Minister Castel announced specific measures on behalf of the government after the meeting.
Castel announced that France will close its borders to non-EU countries.
Any travel from French territory to and from non-EU countries will be prohibited unless there is a "convincing reason."
The measure will come into effect at midnight on January 31.
Regarding the entry into France within the EU, Castel said that anyone entering France from an EU country must present a negative test for the new crown virus, except for border workers.
Castel added that starting from January 31, all non-essential travel to and from French overseas territories is also prohibited.
Castel also announced that France will close "non-food shopping malls with an area of more than 20,000 square meters" from January 31.
These shopping centers are believed to cause too much concentration.
At the same time, from February 1st, all supermarkets will strengthen crowd control.
Castel requested that telecommuting should be restored as much as possible.
He pointed out that all companies should strengthen the effective use of telecommuting if conditions permit.
He said that public administration departments should also use remote office methods.
In his speech, Castel ruled out the possibility of immediately implementing the third "city closure".
He believes that the next few days will be critical to the prevention and control of the epidemic, and there is still a chance to avoid "closing the city."
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