France enforces new regulations amid a rise in COVID-19 cases

France enforces new regulations amid a rise in COVID-19 cases. 

Paris: The French government unveiled new COVID-19-related measures on Monday in an attempt to stop the spread of coronavirus but stayed clear of imposing a sweeping restriction before New Year’s Eve.

Significant events will be restricted to 2,000 indoors and 5,000 outdoor from next week. The public will be asked to take a seat during shows, and patrons won’t stand inside bars. French Premier Jean Castex declared.

Alcohol consumption and eating are prohibited in theaters, cinemas, sports facilities, public transport, even long-distance routes. 

In addition, homework is required at a minimum of three days a week for those whose work allows it to work from home, he said.

The new regulations will be in effect for a minimum of three weeks. The decision comes after France reported more than 100,000 cases of the virus within a single day, at the beginning of the year ever in the pandemic.

Macron was President Emmanuel Macron held a particular videoconference on the virus with top officials from his residence during the holiday season in Fort de Bregancon on the French Riviera. 

The new rules are less restrictive than the ones put in the law in December of last year and December when a strict nighttime curfew was in place across the nation.

Castex gave a few basic suggestions on New Year’s Eve, such as avoiding significant events and dinners and wearing a mask, venting the room, and taking COVID-19 tests, all “common-sense things,” he said.

He also confirmed that schools would resume the same way as planned on the 3rd of January. He also said rallies for political causes wouldn’t affect the new rules for democratic reasons before the presidential election in April.

The French government appears to be trying to find a balance between measures to alleviate hospitals and to keep the economy in operation while at the same time because the fast-spreading omicron variant makes the matter more complicated. 

“We are racing against time,” Castex said.

More than one-in-100 residents within the Paris region have had positive tests in the last week as per the region’s health agency. 

Most of the new infections are connected to the omicron-related variant, which experts from the government believe will dominate in France over the next few days.

Macron is also concerned about the effect on the public’s perception of drastic measures that could be implemented less than four months away from the presidential election in which he’s expected to be a candidate. 

Castex said that the hospitals’ intensive care areas aren’t overcrowded due to more than 90 percent of French adults having been fully vaccinated, in stark contrast to the previous year’s situation.

The government hopes to accelerate the country’s booster program by reducing the wait time for receiving the vaccine from three to four months following the last vaccination shot.

The government on Monday introduced a bill that aims to create the concept of a “vaccine pass” that would allow only those who have been vaccinated to enter public areas, including bars, restaurants, and cinemas. The bill will be discussed in Parliament later this month.