France's Macron to Address Nation Wednesday, Says Presidency

French President Emmanuel Macron will make a prime-time television address on Wednesday evening as the country awaits the government's decision on new measures to halt the spread of the coronavirus, his office said.

Macron has drawn fire from opposition parties and some medical experts for refusing to impose a nationwide lockdown sooner, with many now expecting that schools will have to be closed in the hardest-hit regions to stem the outbreak.

The address at 8:00 pm (1800 GMT) will follow a weekly meeting of top cabinet officials Wednesday morning to discuss the crisis, which has already seen authorities declare limited lockdowns in 19 departments including the Paris region.

The country is also under a nationwide 7:00 pm curfew and restaurants, cinemas, shopping malls and other public venues have been closed for weeks, but hospitals are now buckling under a surge in severe Covid cases.

On Tuesday, the Sante Publique France health authority reported an additional 569 intensive care cases in the past 24 hours, the highest number since April 2020, when the first wave of coronavirus cases hit.