France has not ruled out imposing a third nationwide lockdown if coronavirus cases continue to rise, its health minister said Sunday, as the country braces for a possible post-Christmas spike. "We will never exclude measures that are necessary to protect the public," Olivier Veran told the Journal du Dimanche. "That is not to say we have made a decision, but that we are watching the situation hour by hour." France has been registering around 15,000 new infections per day, and on Friday confirmed the first case of a new coronavirus variant that recently emerged in Britain. Following a snap 48-hour ban on UK arrivals this week, France has reopened its borders -- partly to allow French citizens to return home but also to relieve the massive build-up of freight goods.

Source: Mint December 27, 2020 03:00 UTC