“The southern cities of Toulouse and Montpellier this week joined Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Grenoble, Saint-Etienne and Lille in maximum alert status. French health authorities on Saturday reported a record number of nearly 26,900 new infections in 24 hours. President Emmanuel Macron met with senior cabinet ministers on Tuesday to discuss possible further measures to fight the pandemic and he is set to deliver a televised speech on Wednesday.”
