Paris | Bars closed, congresses banned, restaurants subject to stricter health rules: the Paris police prefect announced new restrictive measures from Tuesday to deal with the worrying progression of COVID-19 in the French capital and nearby suburbs.
• Read also: All developments in the COVID-19 pandemic
“These are braking measures, because the epidemic is going too fast. It must be slowed down before the health care system is overwhelmed, ”Didier Lallement explained on Monday during a press conference alongside the mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo.
These new provisions will remain in force for 15 days.
Ms. Hidalgo estimated that the health situation was “very serious” in the capital.
The government had decided Sunday evening, deciding to put Paris at the same level as Marseille (south-eastern France) and the island of Guadeloupe (French Antilles).
Unsurprisingly, the prefect of police announced the closure of bars, warning that he would be “relentless for those who constantly want to circumvent the rule”.
Restaurants may remain open at “usual hours”, but must comply with a “new health protocol” validated by the High Council of Public Health. Among these provisions, a distance of one meter between each table, limited to six guests against ten previously, and the wearing of a protective mask most of the time, except when eating the dishes.
This protocol will apply everywhere in France, in maximum alert zones and heightened alert zones, including in Aix-Marseille where restaurants had to lower their curtains a week ago.
Sports halls remain closed
Paris, the government explained, crossed, several days ago, the three thresholds which correspond to placement in the maximum alert zone.
The incidence rate still exceeds 250 per 100,000 inhabitants in the capital and the critical level of 100 among those over 65 years of age. As for the occupancy rate of intensive care beds for patients with COVID-19, it is also above the maximum alert threshold of 30% in the Paris region, according to figures from the Regional Health Agency.
Among the new measures imposed in Paris and its suburbs is also the ban on fairs, trade shows and events organized in exhibition centers, such as congresses, and marquee shows, such as those in circuses.
Wedding parties, student parties or any other festive event in a place rented for the occasion remain prohibited.
Shopping centers and department stores are spared, but will have to respect a customer’s gauge for 4m2.
Regarding sports activities, the main novelty is the closure to adults of swimming pools, which will remain open to minors. The sports and fitness rooms are always closed. In the open air, stadiums and training grounds remain open within the limit of 1000 people or 50% of their maximum capacity. Cultural venues – cinemas, theaters, museums – also remain open.
In universities located in heightened and maximum alert zones, lecture theaters may only be filled to 50% of their maximum capacity.