Macron disputes his scientific advisers by rejecting a "third closure" of the country

Macron has taken upon himself the responsibility of taking on a decision that could be counterproductive.

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French President Emmanuel Macron is risking by refusing to impose a third national lockdown to contain "Covid-19", which came against the expectations and advice of his chief scientific advisers.

The 43-year-old president preferred to tighten restrictions on travel and shopping during his cabinet meeting on Friday a week later, during which it appeared that his government was preparing for a new closure.

The move put France on a different path from that taken by its two major neighbors Britain and Germany, at a time when the mutated and more contagious British version of the virus is rapidly spreading across Europe.

"Everything points to the possibility of a new wave (of injuries) due to the mutated version, but we might be able to avoid it thanks to the measures we decided early on, and which the French respect," Health Minister Olivier Ferrand told the "Journal du Dimanche" newspaper.

The French government imposed a strict night-time curfew after the second lockdown ended in December, while the number of deaths, about 250 per day, is still less than a quarter of the numbers recorded in Britain or Germany.

Sources told «France Press» that Macron is concerned about the repercussions of imposing another closure, while the country is trying hard to deal with the psychological repercussions of nearly a year of restrictions, in addition to the deep recession.

Another encouraging factor is evidence that the country may be able to contain the new daily number of injuries, if it remains at its current level of about 24,000 without the need to resort to closing shops and schools and preventing travel internally.

"When you are French, you have everything you need to succeed, as long as you dare and try," "Journal du Dimanche" quoted Macron as telling ministers during the Friday meeting.

Some believe that the images of riots in the Netherlands last week influenced his position.

But by contradicting the intuitions of Health Minister Ferran and other members of his scientific council that handles the file of "Corona", Macron is taking responsibility for a decision that may be counterproductive.

"The Journal du Dimanche" titled on its front page "Why Macron said no", which means that there will be no confusion in the future about the person responsible for the outcome of the decision, whether positive or negative.

The new restrictions stipulated the closure of large shopping centers, and the ban on unnecessary travel to France from outside the European Union, starting from Sunday.

"We are doing everything possible to avoid another closure, given the economic, social and psychological repercussions" of the closure measures, an advisor to the president told "France Press", asking not to be identified.

But the government's credibility and the clarity of its messages are at stake just 15 months before the presidential election, in which Macron is expected to face the increasingly prominent leader of the hard-right, Marine Le Pen.

As he seeks to win a second term, attention will focus on the French president's record in his handling of the virus crisis, including lockdown measures, economic support packages and the vaccination campaign.

Le Pen accused the government of behaving like a "dead dog roaming around in the stream of water," borrowing a phrase used for the first time during the years of wars and turmoil in France during the reign of the Third Republic.

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