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France could reinstate nighttime curfew in Paris region on top of new lockdown

The Local France
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France could reinstate nighttime curfew in Paris region on top of new lockdown
Police will once again be out to check that Parisians respect a 9pm curfew. Photo: AFP

A nighttime curfew could be reinstated in Paris and the surrounding area on top of the strict new nationwide lockdown, a French government spokesman said on Tuesday.

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"We will reinstate a curfew in Paris and perhaps in Île-de-France at 9pm,” said government spokesperson Gabriel Attal on Tuesday morning.

However after that interview the French PM's office at Matignon said the government had not definitely decided whether to re-introduce the curfew.

"This decision will be negotiated with Parisian local authorities by the préfecture, but it has not at this point been decided," they said. "A decision will be taken in the coming days."

It wasn't clear what the rules for any new curfew would be or whether there would be exemptions for certain people such as workers, but Attal said the interior minister would add further details later that day and that a decree could be issued.

Attal also added that local authorities would be given the power to impose nighttime curfews if they deemed it necessary.

Government sources told French TV channel BFM, the channel which had interviewed Attal, that "the decision has absolutely not yet been taken at this stadium," but that the Paris police chief had suggested it as a response to "observed situations during nighttime in Paris."

Speaking to BFM, Attal said the streets of the capital were more crowded during this lockdown than they had been in the spring.

"We are putting in place measures that are difficult for everyone, and if many respect them, it is unbearable for some French people to see that others do not respect the rules," Attal said.

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Paris and the Île de France region had been subject to a 9pm curfew that was brought in on October 17th, but that measure was dropped when President Emmanuel Macron imposed a nationwide lockdown from October 30th.

Under the rules of that curfew people were only allowed outside for several reasons such as returning from work or health emergencies.

Police in Paris had performed 100,000 stops this weekend and handed out 14,000 fines, Attal said.

“A certain number of fines were given to people who were out when they should not be, others to places that welcomed people that should not,” he said, specifying that some bars had breached with the rules and stayed open.

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