France’s Macron Orders Third Lockdown, Closes Schools

President Emmanuel Macron ordered France into its third national lockdown Wednesday in an effort to slow a third wave of COVID-19 infecting his country.

Among the lockdown measures, Macron closed all schools for three weeks beginning next Monday. Macron had hoped to avoid a lockdown and the effect it would have on the economy. However, the country’s death toll is nearing 100,000 and it has struggled with a vaccine rollout that has been slower than hoped for. A rise in cases is crippling intensive care units in areas hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. "We will lose control if we do not move now," he said in a televised address to the nation.