In France where the total number of COVID-19 cases passed the two-million mark on Tuesday, authorities noted a positive downward trend of daily new infections while urging a high level of vigilance to maintain the good momentum.
"This evening we cross the two-million-case mark in France," announced Director General of Health Jerome Salomon at a press conference, adding that after reaching the peak of infections on Nov. 2, daily new cases have been decreasing but still remain very high.
"Our collective efforts are beginning to bear fruit and explain this positive trend. It is by maintaining a high level of vigilance that we will be able to spend the holidays in the best conditions of safety," he said.
France entered a nationwide confinement on Oct. 30 to stem the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. People are ordered to stay home. They have to sign documents if they have to go out to work, buy essential products or for health emergency.
Early in the day, Prime Minister Jean Castex told the National Assembly that some restrictive measures to brake the virus spread "will continue" after the one-month lockdown because the pandemic should be "managed in long term."
"The better the current phase of confinement produces its effects, the faster we can move on to a next phase, which will nevertheless not be a return to that before the confinement," he told the lower house of the parliament.
"That is to say that there will be braking provisions that will last," he said.
"We will make the announcements as soon as we have made the decisions," said the prime minister, stressing that for the de-confinement to be possible, "it is necessary that the incidence rates continue downwards, and the intensive care services are less saturated."
