Cancel Christmas and New Year to prevent Covid third wave, says Paris hospital director

Fears festive season could be trigger ‘potential new third wave’ of Covid-19

French Police officers patrol the deserted Trocadero square near the Eiffel Tower during the second national lockdown (EPA-EFE)

Christmas and New Year's celebrations should be cancelled this year over fears they could lead to a spike in coronavirus infections, a Paris hospital director has said.

Juliet Lenglet warned there was a risk festivities to mark Christmas and 31 December, known in France as "Saint-Sylvestre," could end up as a "giant, intergenerational cluster that could be at the origins of a potential new third wave" of Covid-19.

"I would say, without any hesitation, that we ought to cancel Christmas and Saint-Sylvestre," said Mr Lenglet, who works at the Antony Hospital in the Paris region.

France entered a second national lockdown to curb the spread of the Covid-19 virus at the end of October.

People are only allowed to leave their homes to buy essential goods, exercise, work or attend medical appointments.

President Emmanuel Macron’s has said he hopes the  restrictions would push down the infection rate enough to allow families to spend Christmas together.

The French capital has also been placed under tougher additional rules on top of the nationwide lockdown.

Some shops selling takeaway foods and alcohol are required to shut at 10pm after concerns about Parisians not abiding by lockdown rules.

The city’s mayor Anne Hidalgo told BFM TV last week: “When you get people who are not playing by the rules of the game and are therefore putting at risk the health of a large number of people, that is when you need to put in place new restrictions.”

With more than 1.8 million confirmed cases since the outbreak of the disease, France has the fourth-highest tally of coronavirus infections in the world, behind the United States, India and Brazil.