The French Health Ministry has asked regional health agencies and hospitals to go into “crisis organisation” from February 18 to prepare for a possible surge in coronavirus cases due to highly contagious variants, the Le Journal Du Dimanche reported.

The move, which would echo measures taken in March and November 2020 when France went into national lockdowns, involves increasing the number of hospital beds available, delaying non-urgent surgery and mobilising all medical staff resources.

“This crisis organisation must be implemented in each region, regardless of the level of hospital stress and must be operational from Thursday,” health authority DGS said in a memo cited by the newspaper.