This archive report was first published on 8 July 2020.
On the eve of the summer holiday season, France is bracing for a possible second wave of COVID-19 cases, with officials warning of a resurgence in the autumn or winter.
According to the head of France's national health agency, Jerome Salomon, the country's behaviour will play a crucial role in determining the outcome of the epidemic.
"What we have to understand is that the epidemic's resurgence will basically depend on our behaviour," Salomon said in an interview with the Figaro newspaper.
Despite the warning, new Prime Minister Jean Castex has ruled out a total lockdown, citing the disastrous economic and human consequences of such a measure.
"My aim is to prepare France for a possible second wave while preserving our daily life, our economic and social life," Castex said in an interview on RTL television.
Instead, Castex plans to implement targeted business closures and stay-at-home orders in specific areas, rather than imposing a nationwide lockdown.
Castex will travel to French Guiana on Sunday to address the surge in cases in the territory, which has reported 124 new cases on Tuesday, bringing the total to nearly 5,200.
The government has dispatched dozens of health workers and a field hospital to the territory to combat the outbreak.
Castex's new government has been tasked with orchestrating the country's recovery from its worst health and economic crisis since World War II, with billions of euros promised for investments and measures to limit job losses.
"We are going to protect people, but above all we are going to invest in the ecological transformation, in our country's recovery," Castex said.
He also confirmed that he had increased a proposed wage hike and budget boosts for hospital staff by around one billion euros, bringing the total envelope to 7.5 billion euros ($8.5 billion).
