Paris and parts of northern France will enter a new lockdown Friday, although schools and essential shops will stay open.
Warnings of a rise in Covid-19 infections to come in Germany and a fresh lockdown in Paris have emphasized the threat that remains from coronavirus across Europe.
A new variant of the virus first discovered in the U.K., which is more contagious than the original, is seen as the principal cause of the new spike.
Paris and parts of northern France will enter a new lockdown Friday, although schools and essential shops will stay open.
The country’s seven-day average of new infections recently rose above 25,000 for the first time since November.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel had planned to ease lockdown restrictions this month yet the number of new cases per 100,000 people over seven days has risen from 65 to 96 in recent weeks amid fears that infections at Easter could mirror what they were at Christmas.