Macron Approval Rating Stable as France Awaits Virus Measures

(Bloomberg) -- French President Emmanuel Macron’s approval rating was nearly steady in February as the country braces for announcements on new measures to curb the coronavirus pandemic.

Macron’s approval rating rose by 1 percentage point to 41%, its highest since November, according to the latest Ifop poll for French weekly newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche. The increase was within the poll’s margin of error of about plus or minus 2 percentage points.

Approval of Prime Minister Jean Castex remained flat at 37%, equal to its lowest level since he took office in July.

Ifop surveyed 1,954 people by email and telephone from Feb. 11 to Feb. 18.

Macron will decide within eight to 10 days whether to relax or tighten the nation’s pandemic restrictions.

France, which has been battling the spread of the coronavirus while attempting to avoid a third national lockdown, has been faced with a surge in cases in the Nice area, prompting Health Minister Olivier Veran to call for tighter local restrictions as soon as this weekend.

Overall daily cases fell sharply sharply from their early-November peak, but have remained mostly stable over the past month.

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