Why the French Covid-19 crisis could make or break Emmanuel Macron

France currently finds itself between a rock and a hard place, according to The Telegraph’s Paris Correspondent Henry Samuel.

On Wednesday evening, Emmanuel Macron announced strict new month-long measures including closing schools for three weeks, abandoning his efforts to keep France out of a third coronavirus lockdown.

Opposition groups boycotted a parliamentary vote on tougher restrictions and said they would not rubber-stamp the whims of “a monarch”.

On top of this, scientists and doctors have been urging the Mr Macron for months to send the country into a lockdown to avoid overloading the public health system.

With only a year left to sway voters his way ahead of the French presidential elections, Mr Macron’s strategy needs to pay off now more than ever, says Henry Samuel.