France will extend a health emergency imposed to fight the new coronavirus for another two months until July 24, according to the health minister Olivier Veran on Saturday.
A draft law a lifting this month of the emergency, which began on March 24, would be premature and carry the risk of an intensifying outbreak.
Veran further said, “We are going to have to perform a long-distance run”.
He was aware that the French people had already been asked for “colossal efforts” in the fight against the virus, he added.
The new emergency bill also lays out the quarantine conditions for people coming to France from abroad.
“We are going to have to live with the virus for a while,” Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said after a cabinet meeting.
“Learning to live with the virus, that’s what’s at stake in the coming months.”
The bill will go before the Senate on Monday and the National Assembly most probably the day after, said government spokeswoman Sibeth Ndiaye. It is expected to become law by the end of the week.
France is one of the European countries most impacted by the virus and lists 24,594 deaths from 167,346 confirmed cases.
France has been in lockdown since March 17 in a bid to slow the spread of the epidemic and officials have repeatedly warned it will take time for the measures to bear fruit.
Many shops will also reopen and remote-working staff will be able to return to offices as France battles the economic impact of the coronavirus that has already pushed the country into recession.
Meanwhile, globally, 3,484,176 people have been infected by coronavirus so far, and the total number of deaths from the disease stands at 244,778.
(With inputs from agency)