Paris may head to lockdown amid ICU’s filling up, new variants

Paris may soon enter another lockdown as new coronavirus variants cause intensive care units across the city to fill up.

The Associated Press reports that French officials are considering another lockdown as special medical planes moved patients out of Paris to less-saturated regions.

“If we have to lock down, we will do it,” Jérôme Salomon, director of France’s public health agency said on Sunday. “The situation is complex, tense and is worsening in the Paris region.”

The AP notes that the French government has been relying on curfews for the past few months to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus, but Salomon said that a nationwide 6 p.m. curfew was “not enough.”

According to Salomon, there are currently more ICU patients in France — around 6,300 — than the number of ICU beds that the country had before the pandemic.

The European Union, which includes France, has approved four vaccines for use in its member countries including those from Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson.

According to data from the World Health Organization (WHO), Frances has confirmed almost 4 million coronavirus cases and nearly 90,000 deaths, which is among the highest in the world.

In February, the French government announced stricter coronavirus checks at its border with Germany as part of further efforts to stem the spread of COVID-19.