France, Feb. 28 -- France's top public health official Jerome Salomon has hailed the nationwide curfewimposed by the government as part of its effort to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

"We are in a critical period of a race against time," Salomon told the Journal du Dimanche."But in this race against time, we have gained time thanks to restrictions and curfews."

More than 86,000 people in France have died from coronavirus since January 2020. More than 20,000 are in hospital recovering from the illness, just over 3,000 of them in intensive care units.

"On the one hand, we have a high incidence and active circulation of variants, and on the other, strong braking measures especially with the curfew," he said.Results

"The curfew works...