France to close nightclubs and expand the use of face masks in schools amid the rise of Covid-19

Nightclubs in France will be ordered to close for four weeks starting this weekend to counter the mounting cases of Covid-19 that have seen hospitals announce emergency protocols as beds fill, said Monday the Prime Minister Jean Castex.

Stronger social distancing and widespread use of face masks in schools will also be required as France faces a fifth wave of virus cases, said Castex, who just came out of quarantine last week after contracting the virus.

“We’ve all had a tendency to lower our guard” in recent weeks, he said.

But the government refrained from imposing stricter measures for the population in general or for the unvaccinated in particular, as several other countries have done in recent days.

Instead, Castex urged companies to encourage working from home, asking people to “lift the pedal” on social interactions, such as office parties, as the year-end holidays approach.

And now health passes demonstrating Covid vaccination or inoculation will be required to eat in reserved areas at outdoor Christmas markets, he said.

“The situation calls for both individual and collective effort,” he said in a televised speech after a cabinet meeting on the crisis.

“But this is no longer the time for the lockdowns,” he said, citing a French vaccination rate of nearly 90 percent of the eligible population, while urging the unvaccinated to receive the vaccines, especially in a sample of “solidarity” with health workers. .

He added that if approved by France’s health advisory body, the vaccines could soon be extended to children ages 5 to 12, while people 65 and older will no longer need appointments to receive Covid booster shots and may simply go to clinics or pharmacies.

(AFP)