Universities in France Could Resume Face-to-Face Learning in February

Posted date: 23 Jul 2021

French President Emmanuel Macron addressed the citizens of France in a live televised speech on Tuesday, announcing that as of Saturday, November 28, the country will be easing its strict COVID-19 lockdown as the number of infection cases has dropped sharply.

During his speech, Macron said that if the infection rate does not reach 5,000 cases per day, sports halls and restaurants could reopen as of January 20, 2021, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.

He added that 15 days later, high schools and universities will be permitted to resume in-person lessons. Lately, France has also announced that it is delivering an online service which will allow international students to apply for residence permits from home, without the need to make an in-person appointment.

As of December 15, the country aims to lift the nationwide lockdown, yet the President said that a daily curfew will be introduced from 9 pm to 7 am. In addition, museums, cinemas and theatres will be allowed to resume work, respecting the health protocol.

Moreover, on the evenings of December 24 and 31 in order to enable citizens to celebrate holidays with their families, the travel throughout the whole territory will be free; however, gatherings on streets will be prohibited.

According to him, although the virus spread has slowed down in the country, it is still there, thus, restaurants and bars should remain closed until January.

“We must do everything in our power to avoid a third wave and a third lockdown,” the French President said, claiming that all unnecessary travel should still be avoided.

The nationwide lockdown imposed on October 30, has caused the infection cases to fall significantly in the country. There are less hospitalized people, and the number of cases per 100,000 people is less than a third of which was at the beginning of November.

Yet, France every day reports hundreds of COVID-19 deaths. Currently, there are 2,170,097 Coronavirus cases in the country, 50,618 deaths, and 156,552 recovered persons.

In October, France went into the second lockdown, and non-essential trips were no longer authorized after 527 French nationals died from Coronavirus and about 3,000 were placed in intensive care within a day.

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GSP Admin