Macron savaged as France’s youngsters rally against President ‘Little king in his castle’ | World | News


Emmanuel Macron has been grappling with increasing opposition to his coronavirus policies and his decision to plunge France into its third lockdown in the span of one year. Members of the cultural sector have been especially vocal against the French President, demanding entertainment venues are allowed to reopen. Asked about President Macron’s record during the pandemic, singer Leah Gracie told BBC Today: “I think he’s just a little king in his castle.

“He doesn’t want to look down and he’s just trying to get money from the poor.

“It’s just increasing the differences between the rich and the poor. It’s straightforward as this.”

A sound engineer taking part in protests in the city of Poitiers earlier this week said: “We feel it’s the Government’s choice to put people in trains, in the metro, and they decided to close all the sociability places.

“There’s a lot of anger in the cultural sector because there’s no sanitary reason [for the closure].”

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The French health ministry reported on Wednesday that the number of people in intensive care units (ICU) with COVID-19 increased by 103 to a new 2021 record of 5,729 people.

Week-on-week, the number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care rose by 13.4%, the biggest week-on-week increase since November 13.

The number of COVID-19 patients in ICU beds – a measure for how well a hospital system can deal with the pandemic – is already above the peak of nearly 5,000 set in mid-November during the second lockdown, but still below the record of 7,148 set on April 8, 2020 during the first lockdown.

Announcing France’s third nationwide lockdown last week, President Macron said the number of ICU beds would be raised from 7,000 to over 10,000.



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