March 22, 2021

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France's limited lockdown beset by glitches as cases rise

A woman pushes a cart of little sailing boats in the Luxembourg Garden with the Senat in background , in Paris, Sunday, March 21, 2021. The French government has backed off from ordering a tough lockdown for Paris and several other regions despite an increasingly alarming situation at hospitals with a rise in the number of COVID-19 patients. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)
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A woman pushes a cart of little sailing boats in the Luxembourg Garden with the Senat in background , in Paris, Sunday, March 21, 2021. The French government has backed off from ordering a tough lockdown for Paris and several other regions despite an increasingly alarming situation at hospitals with a rise in the number of COVID-19 patients. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

Residents of Paris and several other regions of France spent their first weekend under a limited monthlong lockdown. While the French government insisted the rules would be less strict than in the past, the measures have been criticized as messy.

A travel authorization certificate posted online was so ridiculed by French media for its unnecessary complexity that the Interior Ministry scrapped it within hours. For now, simple proof of residence is required to stroll within a 10-kilometer (6.2-mile) radius.

The form the French still obliges citizens to fill out to travel greater distances - up to 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) also was not accessible online because of a technical glitch. A website Sunday simply said, "Available soon."

Under the new restrictions, nonessential shops were closed but people are not required to spend most of the day confined at home. The government announced the measures on Thursday as the picked up speed again in some parts of France.

The country reported 35,327 new confirmed cases on Saturday, when the number of COVID-19 patients in French intensive care units rose to 4,353, the most so far this year, the Health Ministry reported.

"When you look at the numbers, they're unsustainable, and it is going to become ever-harder as the virus continues to circulate," Anaelle Aeschliman, a nurse at the Ambroise Pare clinic in the western Paris suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine, told The Associated Press. "I admit I was a bit disappointed that we aren't being locked down nationwide."

Chairs and tables are piled up inside a closed restaurant, in Paris, Sunday, March 21, 2021. The French government has backed off from ordering a tough lockdown for Paris and several other regions despite an increasingly alarming situation at hospitals with a rise in the number of COVID-19 patients. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)
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Chairs and tables are piled up inside a closed restaurant, in Paris, Sunday, March 21, 2021. The French government has backed off from ordering a tough lockdown for Paris and several other regions despite an increasingly alarming situation at hospitals with a rise in the number of COVID-19 patients. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)
French Police officers ride their bikes among Parisian bikers on the banks of the Seine river in Paris, Sunday, March 21, 2021. The French government has backed off from ordering a tough lockdown for Paris and several other regions despite an increasingly alarming situation at hospitals with a rise in the number of COVID-19 patients. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)
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French Police officers ride their bikes among Parisian bikers on the banks of the Seine river in Paris, Sunday, March 21, 2021. The French government has backed off from ordering a tough lockdown for Paris and several other regions despite an increasingly alarming situation at hospitals with a rise in the number of COVID-19 patients. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)
Woman gather at the entrance of the Luxembourg Garden, near a placard announcing a closed exhibition of Women Painters, in Paris, Sunday, March 21, 2021. The French government has backed off from ordering a tough lockdown for Paris and several other regions despite an increasingly alarming situation at hospitals with a rise in the number of COVID-19 patients. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)
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Woman gather at the entrance of the Luxembourg Garden, near a placard announcing a closed exhibition of Women Painters, in Paris, Sunday, March 21, 2021. The French government has backed off from ordering a tough lockdown for Paris and several other regions despite an increasingly alarming situation at hospitals with a rise in the number of COVID-19 patients. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)
A placard reading 'Not Essential', is pasted on the front door of the closed Charlie Chaplin Cinema theater in Denfert Rochereau district, in Paris, Sunday, March 21, 2021. The French government has backed off from ordering a tough lockdown for Paris and several other regions despite an increasingly alarming situation at hospitals with a rise in the number of COVID-19 patients. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)
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A placard reading 'Not Essential', is pasted on the front door of the closed Charlie Chaplin Cinema theater in Denfert Rochereau district, in Paris, Sunday, March 21, 2021. The French government has backed off from ordering a tough lockdown for Paris and several other regions despite an increasingly alarming situation at hospitals with a rise in the number of COVID-19 patients. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

The French government has tried hard to avoid imposing a third nationwide lockdown. President Emmanuel Macron said Friday that "" was not the appropriate term to describe the new regional restrictions.

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