France’s limited lockdown beset by glitches as cases rise

PARIS (AP) - Residents of Paris and several other regions of France have 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 local travel authorization certificate posted online was so ridiculed by French media for its unnecessary complexity that the Interior Ministry scrapped it within hours.

The form the French government requires to travel greater distances also was not accessible online because of a technical glitch. A website Sunday simply said, “Available soon.”

The government announced the regional measures on Thursday as the coronavirus picked up speed again in some parts of France.