France lockdown – Doctors forced to choose who lives and dies as Covid rages & Macron finally orders curfew

FRENCH medics are forced to choose which of their critically ill patients lives and dies as coronavirus ravages the country.

It comes as President Emmanuel Macron finally announced a three-week nationwide school closure and domestic travel ban on Wednesday.

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France is now routinely seeing 40,000 new coronavirus cases a day, with 41,907 cases recorded yesterday.

The total number of Covid patients in intensive care in France surged past 5,000 yesterday – the highest ICU figure for 11 months.

According to reports, intensive care units across the country are now almost full with 44% of the patients being under 65.

Medical students and the French military have been drafted in to help boost capacity within hospitals.

With ICUs almost full to capacity, it has left doctors with the devastating decision on which critically ill patients are more deserving of further treatment, Sky News reported.

It comes after President Macron held a nationwide address yesterday in which he said measures already introduced in some regions in France will be extended across the country.

People are also asked to work from home where they can and non-essential shops will be closed, with the measures lasting for four weeks.

Saying the education of children is "non-negotiable", the French president announced daycare centres, primary schools, middle schools and high schools will shut for just three weeks. 

An overnight nationwide curfew has been in place since January, and all France's restaurants, bars, gyms, cinemas and museums have been closed since October.

In Paris and other regions where the virus is spreading rapidly, residents already have extra restrictions on movement and nonessential stores are closed.

Meanwhile, scientists in France have warned of a new Covid-19 variant with mutations that could be more resistant to vaccines and more easily transmissible.

Researchers have revealed worrying new details about the variant they discovered which now contains 18 mutations.

At least two of the mutations could prove a problem for the vaccine rollout.

Dr Jean-Michel Pawlotsky, a virologist from the Department of Virology at the Henri Mondor University Hospital, told France Inter: “We have identified two mutations which are interesting: the 501Y mutation, which seems linked to in increased transmissibility of the virus.

“And another mutation in position 452, which has been suggested to potentially decrease sensitivity to the effect of vaccination.”

As cases continue to rise, reports from France claim that President Macron is so arrogant that he doesn't bother to listen to experts on Covid any more.

French paper Le Monde says Macron has flouted the advice of his experts for almost a year after he announced the reopening of schools in advance of scientific advice.

And since then, he's spent so much time arguing with his health advisors that sources apparently joke: "The president has become an epidemiologist."

Macron routinely battles Health Secretary and medical doctor Olivier Véran, as well as the committee of experts advising on the response to the pandemic.

One source claimed: "He looks at all the studies as soon as they're published, so much so that sometimes he can bring up one that the experts in front of him haven't read."

Earlier this month, Macron refused to apologise for his country’s disastrous virus strategy.

He said: "I can tell you that I have no mea culpa to offer, no remorse, no acknowledgement of failure."

Adding to the country's battle against the disease is that France is well behind the UK on its vaccine rollout following a series of U-turns on the AstraZeneca jab.

Macron initially claimed the remedy was not suitable for those aged over 65 before announcing it shouldn't be given to those under 55 – and then later reintroducing it.

The jab has been backed by Europe's regulatory agency, as well as the World Health Organisation.

Germany and France were last night slammed for flirting with Vladimir Putin over the Sputnik V vaccine after trashing the AZ jab.

Critics warned they risk handing the Kremlin a major PR victory at a time when it is increasing its aggression towards the EU.

Lithuanian MEP Petras Auštrevičius said Moscow was using the shot as "a well-directed PR stunt" and urged the bloc to reject it.


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