France locks down, Germany closes down, as virus cases hit record

PARIS, Oct 29, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – France announced a new month-long national lockdown and Germany imposed drastic new curbs on people’s daily lives as the EU’s biggest countries admitted that hospitals would soon be overwhelmed by patients suffering from coronavirus.

The dramatic lockdown decision from French President Emmanuel Macron came after weeks of exponentially rising new infections across Europe that have forced governments across the continent to contemplate reinstating the punishing stay-at-home orders seen during the first wave in March and April.