⁍ France will go back into a nationwide lockdown starting this week to try to contain the COVID-19 epidemic.

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⁍ The new measures will mean people have to stay in their homes except to buy essential goods, seek medical attention, or use their daily one-hour allocation of exercise.

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⁍ In addition to France, Germany announced sweeping nationwide restrictions on Wednesday.

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– “We are all in the same position: overrun by a second wave which we know will be harder, more deadly than the first.” That’s what French President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday in announcing a return to a nationwide lockdown to combat a deadly virus. The lockdown, which will last until Dec. 1, will require people to stay in their homes except to buy essential goods, seek medical attention, or exercise, Reuters reports. Restaurants, cafes, and shops that don’t sell essential goods will have to close down for at least the next two weeks, Macron said. In addition to France, Germany announced sweeping nationwide restrictions on Wednesday. The news that two of Europe’s largest economies were partially locking down again sent world stock markets lower and comes after Ireland imposed less drastic measures last week. In France, people will still be allowed to go to work if their employer deems it impossible for them to do the job from home, and—in a departure from the previous lockdown in March—schools will remain open. “The virus is circulating at a speed that not even the most pessimistic forecasts had anticipated,” Macron said. “We are all in the same position: overrun by a second wave which we know will be harder, more deadly than the first.”