Paris Enters Another Partial Lockdown As Covid-19 Cases Continues to Increase

Category: World News

A third of France's population was under a new partial lockdown Saturday to stop the spread of Covid-19, as some European countries resumed AstraZeneca vaccinations following an all-clear from EU regulators and the WHO. 

The pandemic is still speeding up worldwide, with the number of new global coronavirus infections rising by 14 percent over the last week compared to the previous week, according to AFP data. 

Fighting to prevent yet another wave of the virus, several countries in Europe went back into partial lockdown on Saturday -- with Poland, parts of Ukraine and some French regions all waking up to tight new restrictions. 

Parisians packed trains leaving the capital and crammed into shops ahead of the new restrictions coming into force, which will apply to Paris and several other regions for a month.

The mayor of Yerres, just outside Paris, told AFP he had told businesses there to remain open, defying the "totally incomprehensible" restrictions.

"Why would we catch Covid more in a shoe store than a bookshop?" he asked. 

Bookshops are considered essential under the new measures, and later Friday the government added florists, chocolate shops and cobblers to the list.

Signs of lockdown weariness abounded in cities across the world, with protests against restrictions popping up in Vienna, Sofia and Montreal.