France prepares for new lockdowns as coronavirus sweeps Europe

PARIS: France announced plans to shut down large swathes of public life for a month from Friday (tomorrow) after rapid rise in the coronavirus cases,.

France has seen more than 50,000 new cases a day, President Emmanuel Macron will give a televised address in the evening and is expected to announce further restrictions following curfew measures introduced across much of the country last week.

News television BFM TV reported that the government was considering a month-long lockdown from midnight on Thursday, but there was no confirmation from Macron s office.

European stock markets hit their lowest levels since June on Wednesday while the euro fell against the dollar and the Cboe Volatility Index .VIX, known as Wall Street s “fear gauge”, surged to its highest level in nearly two months.

To help soften the impact, Scholz is expected to make available up to 10 billion euros ($11.82 billion) in aid and step up government borrowing while Italy has set aside more than 5 billion euros.

While leaders have been desperate to avoid the crippling cost of lockdowns, the new restrictions reflect mounting alarm at the galloping pace of the pandemic from Spain, France and Germany to Russia, Poland and Bulgaria.