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France Closes Schools from Monday 16 March 2020 (Paris)

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France ordered the closing of nurseries, schools and universities from the beginning of next week to slow the spread of the coronavirus, following Italy in locking down key parts of public life to combat what President Emmanuel Macron called the worst health crisis in a century.

Seeking to contain a broader outbreak, France urged people to work from home, limit travel, and keep the most fragile citizens and people over 70 in their houses. Municipal elections will go ahead on Sunday, Macron said in a prime-time address from the Elysee Palace in Paris. Where relevant, border closures may come into effect in the future, he said. Schools will remain closed until further notice.
“The government will use all the financial means necessary to save lives, whatever the cost,” the president said.

The measures are among the most drastic in the region and follow a lockdown of public life in Italy, where the virus outbreak has been particularly pronounced, claiming more than 1,000 lives. On Thursday, Rome’s diocese announced that all churches would be closed until April 3. Weddings, funerals and other religious ceremonies were already banned in Italy as part of the government’s efforts to reduce social contact, but churches so far are open for personal prayer. Pope Francis held his Sunday Angelus prayer remotely to avoid drawing crowds to St. Peter Square.
‘Act Together’

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will speak later tonight after consultations with senior politicians. In the U.K., Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned “many more” families will lose loved ones and advised everyone with symptoms of the virus, including a cough or a fever, to stay at home for seven days. He stopped short of ordering school closures, but said this may change as the disease spreads.
Macron said he would speak to U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday to discuss measures that the G7 group of large economies can jointly take. The U.S. has imposed a limited ban on many Europeans to enter the country as it seeks to contain the spread of the disease, which Trump labeled a “foreign virus” in an address to the nation on Wednesday.

In a thinly veiled response to the U.S. measures, Macron said “division won’t allow us to tackle what today is a global crisis,” instead calling for resolve and “our ability to act together.”
No Kissing

On Thursday, European stocks tumbled the most on record and Italian bonds plunged to send yields up the most ever after the European Central Bank held off on cutting interest rates. Still, Macron said Europe stands ready to “react in a massive, organized way to protect its economy.” France will seek to support companies hurt by the fallout from the virus, Macron said, including deferred payments of charges and taxes.
“The central bank already took its first decisions today,” Macron said. “Will they suffice? I don’t think so. It’s on them to take new ones.”

Cases in France have reached about 2,900, still far short of the 15,113 infections recorded in Italy. German cases reached 2,369, with southern Germany and North-Rhine Westphalia, the country’s most populous federal state, particularly affected. There have been five reported fatalities so far, according to the Robert Koch Institute.

Macron appealed to his fellow citizens to also dispense with a quintessentially French gesture: the ‘bise’ kisses on the cheeks to greet another person. Handshakes and visits to the elderly should also be off limits, he said.

“I count on you,” Macron said. “Because the government can’t do everything by itself.”

— With assistance by Benedikt Kammel

Paris Forum

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