Curfew Instead Of General Lockdown In Virus-Affected Areas Saves $23Bln - French Gov't

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th October, 2020) French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire on Friday said the coronavirus-related curfew imposed by authorities earlier in the week in highly-infected areas of the country is preferable to a nationwide lockdown which could cost up to 20 billion euro ($23 billion) per month.

"An element of comparison: if we proceeded with a real lockdown in areas where the virus is actively circulating, the cost would be around 5 billion euros. If we had a generalized lockdown, the cost would be - depending on the reaction of the economic world - from 15 to 20 billion Euros per month," Le Maire said on BFMTV broadcaster.

Earlier in the week, French President Emmanuel Macron admitted that France has entered the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic. He also ordered the implementation of a four-week curfew in the Ile-de-France region, and the cities of Lille, Grenoble, Lyon, Marseille, Rouen, Saint-Etienne, Montpellier, Toulouse starting Saturday. The curfew will be in force from 9 a.m. (19:00 GMT) to 6 a.m. (4:00 GMT).

France's most recent daily high of 30,621 new coronavirus cases was registered on October 15. To date, France has registered 850,997 COVID-19 cases and 33,146 coronavirus-related fatalities.