France can avoid return to lockdown and still save Christmas -PM

FILE PHOTO: People, wearing protective face masks, walk near the Arc de Triomphe in Paris amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in France, December 6, 2021. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes

PARIS (Reuters) -France will close nightclubs ahead of Christmas and tighten social distancing measures in response to the emergent Omicron variant of the coronavirus but there is no need for new lockdowns or curfews, Prime Minister Jean Castex said on Monday.

Castex said a fifth wave of the pandemic was now surging through the country. But he said that with 52 million people now vaccinated - nearly 90% of those eligible - the situation is better than in previous outbreaks and there is no need for drastic measures to save Christmas.