France Orders Lockdown To Slow COVID-19 Spread Covid-19 Lockdown

France orders lockdown to slow COVID-19 spread

France today became the third European state to go on lockdown to curb the spread of COVID-19, while in Spain, the number of new cases nudged the state on of South Korea as the world's fourth hardest-hit country.

Other European countries saw no let-up in cases, also more African countries detected their first cases. With about 179,000 global cases now reflected on the Johns Hopkins online dashboard, the proportion of cases outer China is increasing steadily, as are the share of deaths.

WHO emphasizes testing

At a media telebriefing today, World Health Organization director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, PhD, said the rapid increase has come with a similar rapid rise in community distancing. However, there hasn't been a vigorous enough push for isolation, testing, also link tracing, which he said form the backbone of the response.

Breaking chains of transmission requires trying also isolation, he said. "You can't figure [out] a fire blindfolded is the simple message," he said. "Test, test, test."

France lockdown is Europe's third

French President Emmanuel Macron today ordered a 15-day lockdown for the country, ordering people to leave their homes only for essential purposes starting tomorrow, from 27 different countries.