France said it would bring in new Covid-19 restrictions for the area around its common border with Germany, as President Emmanuel Macron’s government tries to contain a surge of coronavirus variants in the French region of Moselle, Reuters reports.

Homeworking in the area will also be reinforced, after France and Germany said earlier this week they were trying to find ways to prevent a closure of their common border.

Joint France-German police patrols could be stepped up, ministries said, adding that France’s vaccination programme in the region was also being sped up and testing would be boosted.