France reopens on Wednesday terraces of bars and restaurants, museums, cinemas and relaxes curfew due to coronavirus

France will reopen from tomorrow, Wednesday, terraces of bars and restaurants, museums and cinemas and will delay the curfew by two hours, thus fulfilling one of the main stages of its reopening calendar due to the crisis of the coronavirus covid-19.

The country has managed to improve occupancy indicators in hospital intensive care units, incidence rates, contagion rate and daily deaths, thanks to the effects of the confinement in April and a solid increase in vaccination (30 % of the population has received at least one dose).

In this way, the Government of President Emmanuel Macron has been able to comply with the established calendar – contrary to what happened after the second confinement in November 2020.

France, where almost 108,000 people have died from covid and 5.9 million have been infected, is preparing for an opening that has raised many expectations, after six months of restriction measures, which have included the closure of businesses considered non-essential.

One of the emblematic measures will be the return of the terraces of the bars and restaurants, a picture of French cities and a reflection of the way of understanding the life of its inhabitants, especially those of Paris, who love to taste their espresso coffees or his glass of wine in the middle of the street.

In the last two weeks, thousands of bars and restaurants have been eagerly preparing for this day, after having been closed for almost seven months, since the end of October 2020, with the start of the second lockdown.

As with the rest of non-essential businesses, the aid of the French State has been fundamental so that they did not close.

Accommodation and painting works, placement of tables and chairs. The movement in many Parisian cafes and bars has been incessant. However, all terraces will have to respect an occupation rule. Up to 50% of its capacity with a maximum of six people per table.

TOUCH OF REMAIN TWO HOURS LATER

The two-hour delay of the curfew, from the current 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., will also mean a respite in a country that is heading into summer and in which it already gets dark after 9:30 p.m.

Two other emblematic establishments of France also return: museums and cinemas. The first ones with one visitor for every 8 square meters and the second ones will have a public limit (35% up to 800 spectators per room).

“The reopening will be progressive because there are many unknown elements at stake and also to avoid a new closure,” explained the Minister of Culture, Roselyn Bachelot, in an interview published today by the newspaper “Le Parisien”.

Libraries, places of worship, outdoor sports activities (up to 50 people and no contact) and funeral ceremonies (up to 50 people) are again allowed.

Spectators in stadiums will be capped at 35% of their capacity, up to 1,000 people seated – as will happen at first in the Roland Garros tennis tournament – and those same conditions will apply to outdoor festivals.

However, meetings of more than 10 people in public space are prohibited, with the exception of guided visits, and the Government maintains teleworking as the main option for those who can exercise it.

The French Minister of Health, Olivier Verán, was “confident” in the face of this new stage in a television interview broadcast last night: “we cannot stop, we have the firm intention of going to the end with the lack of refinement”.

Véran also explained that in the future vaccinated people will have a “more favorable” situation compared to those who are not, and added that the obligation to wear the mask abroad will come “soon” to an end.

If the indicators of the disease continue with a downward trend, on June 9 another stage will be fulfilled in the relaxation of restrictive measures, and June 30 would be the third and last that would allow a return to the majority of pre-employment activities.

The health certificate, in the process of being legislatively validated and which includes a vaccination card and covid tests, will only be required for cases of large agglomerations and will not be requested in the daily life of the French, according to the Government.