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PARIS: Paris was preparing on Sunday (October 4) to be under high coronavirus alert, as alarming numbers for COVID-19 infection appeared to leave the French government with no choice but to tighten restrictions in and around the capital. .
Paris’ signature bars and cafes are threatened with complete closure on Monday after Health Minister Olivier Veran announced that only an improvement in COVID-19 infection rates could prevent such a step.
If recent trends were confirmed, “we will have no choice,” he warned on Thursday, saying the new restrictions would mean “no more family gatherings, no more nights out and a total closure of bars.”
But a clemency seems unlikely after France reported 16,972 new coronavirus cases on Saturday alone, the highest daily number since the country began conducting widespread testing.
Figures from the regional health agency ARS show that new cases of coronavirus remain above 250 per 100,000 inhabitants in Paris, a threshold that activates the maximum alert protocol that has already affected the cities of southern Aix-en -Provence and Marseille and its surroundings, as well as the French. overseas territory of Guadeloupe.
“There is no justification for denial,” ARS director for the Paris region Aurelien Rousseau said on Sunday. “The numbers are what they are and they weigh a lot,” he tweeted.
“WE ARE FRENCH, WE LOVE TO DRINK”
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin acknowledged that the impending closure of bars and cafes would be “tough” for all concerned.
“We are French, we love to drink, eat, live, smile and kiss,” he told LCI and Europe 1 on Sunday.
“But we are also doing this because people want us to do it,” he added.
BFM television published a poll on Sunday saying that 61 percent of people living in Paris and its suburbs were in favor of a complete closure of bars, which are currently allowed to stay open until 10 p.m.
The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, told reporters on Sunday that “it is not a closed deal, there is still work, we are still talking.” But she also acknowledged that the health situation was “very serious.”
The government has said it will primarily target establishments that “serve alcoholic beverages without food.”
Restaurant owners still hope they can dodge a similar fate, at least for now.
Health authorities are evaluating a proposal submitted by restaurants for voluntary restrictions, including registering their customers’ home addresses and limiting the number of people at each table, before sending their recommendations to the government.
Other large French cities, such as Lille, Lyon, Grenoble and Toulouse, are also approaching the maximum alert threshold and measures similar to those of the capital could also be reserved.
The business organization UMIH, which represents cafes, bars, hotels, restaurants, breweries and nightclubs, warned that 15 percent of the 220,000 French establishments in the sector are threatened with bankruptcy due to virus restrictions, and up to 250,000 employees face to unemployment.
The government has said it will take all necessary precautions to avoid a new state of emergency that would require a widespread lockdown such as the one imposed at the height of the outbreak, from mid-March to mid-May.
The country’s total death toll from COVID-19 stands at 32,198 after recording 49 more deaths on Saturday.
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