Interior Minister: France Must Prepare For “Difficult Decisions”

French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said on Tuesday, ahead of a cabinet meeting to discuss the outbreak of the Coronavirus, that France should prepare to take “difficult decisions” related to imposing new measures to cope with the rise in Covid-19 cases.

Three sources familiar with the matter said that the French authorities are studying options for implementing tougher measures to combat Covid-19 disease, which is caused by infection with the virus and which continues to spread, despite the imposition of restrictions from the most stringent restrictions in Europe.

“We have to expect difficult decisions,” Darmanin told France Inter radio.

France has already imposed a curfew from 9 pm to 6 am in major cities, including Paris. Two industry sources with ties to the government said officials were now considering moving forward the date of the ban and keeping people at home on weekends, except for going out for necessity and closing non-essential stores.

On Monday, France recorded 26,771 new cases in the previous 24 hours.

The deaths rose by 257, bringing the total since the start of the outbreak to 35,018 deaths. The number of patients in intensive care units increased by 186, to a total of 2,770 cases.