French PM says ‘very difficult days ahead’ as Covid-19 ‘sweeps over’ country

French Prime Minister Édouard Philippe has warned there will be “very difficult” days ahead as the number of confirmed cases of the Covid-19 virus in the country soared to nearly 30,000 on Friday.

The country is experiencing an “extremely high wave” of cases as the virus is “sweeping over France” and the crisis will continue to worsen in the coming days, Agence France-Presse cited Philippe as saying.

As of March 27, France has reported 1,698 deaths from Covid-19. The number of confirmed infections in the country jumped by almost 4,000 on Thursday. 

President Emmanuel Macron announced stringent restrictions on the movement of citizens last week with the lockdown expected to last as long as six weeks.

Europe has become the latest epicenter of the Covid-19 pandemic, with Italy being hit the hardest. France, Spain, UK, and Germany also saw massive surges in cases in the past week. 

Macron said Friday that he had a “very good discussion” with US President Donald Trump and that they, along with other countries, are preparing “a new strong initiative” to tackle the crisis in the coming days.

The number of confirmed cases of the infection worldwide surpassed 500,000 this week, according to a Johns Hopkins University tally.

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