France’s top medical advisor says that a third national lockdown would probably soon be needed to combat coronavirus in the country.

A strict curfew was implemented last weekend, but cases continue to climb.

Prof Jean-Francois Delfraissy, head of the scientific council that advises leaders on Covid-19, says “there is an emergency” and this week was critical.

He called for swift government action, amid rising concerns about the spread of new variants of the coronavirus.

The professor says, France was in a better situation than others in Europe, but described the new variants as the “equivalent of a second pandemic”.