France brings forward nightly COVID curfew from 20h to 18h in more than a dozen regions

By Euronews • Updated: 01/01/2021

Macron, who had COVID-19 before Christmas, urged the French to limit contacts and remain vigilant to keep infections under control during the holiday season - Copyright Charles Platiau/Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved

France will bring forward its nightly COVID curfew from 20h to 18h.

The move, effective from Saturday, will apply to 15 regions of the country, government spokesman Gabriel Attal announced on television station TF1.

The areas affected are: Hautes-Alpes, les Alpes-Maritimes, les Ardennes, le Doubs, le Jura, la Marne, la Haute-Marne, la Meurthe-et-Moselle, la Meuse, la Haute-Saône, les Vosges, le Territoire de Belfort, la Moselle, la Nièvre et la Saône-et-Loire.

These regions do not include major French cities such as Paris, Lyon or Marseille. They do cover Nice and Reims.

"The virus continues to circulate in France (...) with a disparity between the territories," explained Attal, specifying that the list of regions concerned would be revised in a week.

And "if the situation were to deteriorate further in certain territories, we will take the necessary decisions", he added.

The spokesman stressed the advanced curfew would apply uniformly throughout the territory of the departments concerned, without distinction between towns and rural areas.

Attal also confirmed that cultural establishments - theatres, cinemas, etc. - would not reopen on January 7, as suggested before Christmas.