On March 18, French Prime Minister Jean Castex announced the introduction of quarantine in 16 departments of the country: in Paris and in seven other departments of the Ile-de-France metropolitan region, in five departments of the Haute-de-France region located in the north of the country (capital - Lille) , as well as in the departments Alpes-Maritimes, Ayr and Seine-Maritimes. Quarantine is introduced for 4 weeks.
The head of government noted that the current quarantine will be different from the spring and autumn in 2020. Mainly, it will consist in a ban on movement: long-distance travel will be allowed only for "urgent and professional reasons", while leaving the house can be up to 10 km away and almost without time restrictions.
The new lockdown does not include the closure of schools and universities, or restrictions on the time people can spend exercising outdoors. But small shops will be closed, and travel from Paris to other regions is prohibited.
The nationwide curfew remains in place, but with daylight saving time, it will start at 7 pm instead of 6 pm. Castex also said that starting tomorrow, France will resume vaccination with the AstraZeneca vaccine after it is approved by the European Medical Agency, and he will inject himself.
