The Minister of Health of the Nation, Olivier Véran, delivered more bad news about the Covid-19 to 4 locations that will now have to close all bars in the face of the increase in the number of cases. Vérain said Lille, Lyon, Grenoble and Saint-Etienne is now on “maximum alert”, a designation that requires the closure of bars but allows restaurants to remain open for now.
Toulouse and Montpellier would also qualify in the category, but Véran granted them a pardon until Monday. However, top experts expect the path of the files to be replaced enough to allow them to escape the same fate.
At a national televised press conference, Véran noted that France had recorded 18,129 cases of Covid on Thursday, one of its highest figures to date. While cases have far exceeded last spring’s numbers, deaths and hospitalizations have only increased marginally, giving hope that the wave of the moment may not be so deadly.
However, this wave at the moment will come at an economic price. These 4 cities now register for the Paris region and the Aix-Marseille region on high alert. Closures have led to growing frustration and negative reactions among bar owners and places to eat. Although they would possibly remain open, they still face greater fitness restrictions and curfews.
Unlike spring, when the country faced a strict blockade, the French government opted this summer for a decentralized reaction to this wave for now, allowing local government to impose new measures such as curfews in bars or mandatory mask if necessary. complaint as the number of instances increased, Macron’s government regained maturity last month and created a five-tier formula that imposes restrictions as regions climb the scale.
After Marseille and Paris were placed in the maximum alert category, local companies rebelled through marches through the streets and took legal action to block the new restrictions. Macron’s government then submitted monetary aid to bars and oversteered a prerequisite that restaurants also had. Close.
“Life will have to continue to unfold,” Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said at a press conference this week. “The fitness crisis has serious and dramatic consequences for economic activity. We are a city very dependent on tourism. We have to live with the virus and protect ourselves. »
What has become clear in recent weeks is that French citizens are adapting more tired and frustrated, partly because the process wants to make sacrifices, such as dressing up and going out less to eat and drink, but there are also growls inside. quarters of those who feel that the government’s plan at the moment is inconsistent.
Even after making some commitments on closures, for example, Macron’s government remains criticized for not forcing others to paint from home, a measure that is officially “encouraged. “On Twitter, when the government announced the closure of Parisian restaurants, citizens foiled, they posted photos of other people crowded on the subway on their way to the paintings.
In Toulouse, this tiredness and confusion is felt through consumers and bar owners.
On a rainy, bloodless night, a dozen weather-defying consumers sat around the tables on the trap terrace at Wolves in Toulouse. Seeing consumers gather around pints of beer and smoking, owner Pierre Pertenais wondered how soon this scene would end.
You’ve already felt the pressure in recent weeks when the government reduced its final schedule from 2 a. m. at 1 a. m. and then at 10 p. m. just over a week ago, its five workers fell part-time and their income fell by about 40% due to the smaller number of consumers and the closing hours when consumers generally began ordering more expensive and expensive beverages.
“First it turns out the government isn’t doing enough, then it’s doing too much,” he said. “It’s frustrating because bars haven’t been the source of groupings. What about the universities, the offices, the subway? They seem to have more problems. “
Nicolos angeless, 21, a student at a business school in Toulouse, sat with his friends around a table at the Chez Mamie bar in Plos angelesce de los angeles Trinidad in Toulouse, drinking beers and laughing at the angels. another hundred people who had filled the terraces of the bars that line one aspect of the square. Chez Mamie’s staff had taped angels around their segment of the plaza to obviously indicate where other people can simply remove their masks.
While Nicolas said he understood a desire to protect others, he was also frustrated by the inconsistency of government policy. He had visited Paris last week and said he thought crowded subways seemed to be a bigger risk than other people sitting in a bar.
“It’s hard for other people to stay home,” he says. “There is a lack of team spirit in these policies. It now looks more like a political crisis than a fitness crisis. “
Benjamin Bohle-Roitelet is co-owner of Nebuchadnezzar, a wine bar that has already closed its doors for now. Last year, he and his spouse Boris Delmas bought the bar frequented by singer Claude Nougaro, hoping to fix it and reopen it in the spring. The lock has left this plan on hold until the summer.
The bar is small, so the partners navigated the village’s red faucet and controlled it to get permission to open a terrace along the narrow street outside. Things had nevertheless fallen into a grove by the end of summer when curfews gradually get caught. At 10 p. m. closing, He-Roitelet said there was no point keeping the bar open while the crowd was just beginning to peak around nine o’clock at night.
At this point, it is difficult to say when it will reopen, but regrets that bars have one of the greatest objectives of these new restrictions. “The only solution in Covid is social estinement,” he said. crisis, other people want more solidarity. Politics deserves to be discussed at the bar bar so we can find better and more humane solutions. “
I am an American journalist in Toulouse, France, and I write about technology, travel, culture, politics and entertainment. Before moving to France in 2014, I spent 15
I am an American journalist based in Toulouse, France, and I write about technology, array culture, politics, and entertainment. Before moving to France in 2014, I spent 15 years covering Silicon Valley for the Los Angeles Times and The San Jose Mercury News. I also run the French Carrefour website.