Paris prepares to close bars to curb Corona spread

Paris: On Sunday, the French government announces the decision to close bars in Paris starting next week to stop the continued spread of the new Corona virus, while restaurants hope to avoid this decision thanks to the adoption of a strict health protocol.

Recent figures have shown that the epidemic is not receding, with some 17,000 positive cases registered in 24 hours in a record number. The Paris region is expected to go into a state of “maximum alert”, similar to Aix Marseille (southeast) and Guadeloupe (Antilles) from the end of September.

French Health Minister Olivier Ferrand had given Parisian cafes a break, saying he was waiting for the latest figures, but the epidemiological situation has not improved since then.

The deteriorating health situation is also reflected in a memorandum sent on Friday by the Paris Hospital Assembly to human resources officials, which includes canceling the leave for its employees during the All Saints holidays at the end of October due to COVID-19.

In Paris, bars were basically forced to close at 10pm a week ago. Restaurants hope to avoid this destination after proposing strict health checks, such as measuring customers’ temperatures as they enter, collecting all contact details with them, and limiting the number of people sitting together to eight, which are measures that the Supreme Council of Public Health is supposed to decide on Monday.

The government has indicated that it will follow the advice of this body. By ratifying this protocol, restaurants will thus be able to keep their doors “totally or partially open” even in “high alert” areas, and thus reopen their doors in Aix-Marseille.

A government source said: “It is not proposed to make differences in the deal because Paris and Marseille have been placed, as of Monday, in the same” warning zone.

If Paris were on the front line, other major cities like Lille, Lyon, Grenoble, Toulouse and Saint-Etienne could soon slip into the red alert zone and worry about bars closing.

For the sector, which is mainly very weakened by the health crisis, this represents another blow. According to the main business organization, Ume, around 15% of the 220,000 companies in the sector – cafes, bars, hotels, restaurants and nightclubs – could stop operating in the coming months in France and between 220,000 and 250,000 employees could be found in unemployment. .