Paris bars to close but restaurants can stay open under new ‘maximum alert’ Covid rules

Paris due to shut bars for two weeks to fight Covid infections but restaurants likely to stay open

Credit: CHRISTOPHE ARCHAMBAULT/ AFP

Paris restaurants will be allowed to stay open — but under tightened restrictions — when the city is placed on maximum coronavirus alert in the face of alarming Covid-19 infection numbers.

However bars and cafes in Paris and its environs appear certain to close under the new measures, set to last at least 15 days.

Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo and the capital’s police chief Didier Lallement will spell out the conditions late Monday morning.

Health minister Olivier Veran announced last week that only improved Covid-19 infection rates could prevent "total closures" of the city’s trademark cafes and bars.

Prime minister Jean Castex’s office said there had been no improvement in the Paris region since the capital passed all three of the government’s criteria for being put on the highest level of alert mid last week.

Coronavirus France Spotlight Chart — Cases default

Working from home should be prioritised "now more than ever" in the Paris area and university lecture halls should be no more than half full, Castex’s office said in a statement.

The reinforced restrictions will take effect from Tuesday.

"These measures, indispensable in the fight to curb the virus’ spread, will apply to Paris and the three departments immediately surrounding it, for a duration of two weeks," it said.

For a city to be placed on maximum alert, the incidence rate must exceed 100 infections per 100,000 among elderly inhabitants and 250 per 100,000 among the general public, while at least 30 per cent of intensive care beds are reserved for coronavirus patients.

Marseille has spent the past week without bars or restaurants

Credit: Daniel Cole/ AP

A week ago, restaurants and bars were shut down for a fortnight in Marseille, the southern city at the epicentre of the second wave, prompting protests and an unsuccessful legal challenge.

Restaurants in Marseille will be allowed to reopen early under the same new protocols.

France on Sunday reported 12,565 new cases of coronavirus, while 893 Covid-19 patients had been admitted into intensive care over the past week.

"There is no justification for denial," said Paris region health director Aurelien Rousseau on Sunday. "The numbers are what they are, and they are weighing heavily."

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin acknowledged that the closure of bars and cafes would be "tough" for everyone concerned.

"We are French, we love to drink, to eat, to live, to smile and to kiss each other," he told broadcasters LCI and Europe 1 on Sunday.

"But we’re also doing this because the people want us to," he added.

BFM television on Sunday published a poll saying that 61 percent of people living in Paris and its suburbs were in favour of a complete closure of bars, currently authorised to remain open until 10:00 pm.

Mayor Hidalgo told reporters on Sunday: "It’s not a done deal, there is still work being done, we’re still talking". But she also conceded that the health situation was "very serious".

The government has said it will primarily target establishments that "serve alcoholic drinks without food".

Restaurants have suggested voluntary restrictions such as registering the home addresses of their guests and limiting the number of people at each table.

Other large French cities including Lille, Lyon, Grenoble and Toulouse are also hovering near the maximum alert threshold and similar measures to those in the capital could be in store for them, too.

Employer organisation UMIH, which represents cafes, bars, hotels, restaurants, brasseries and discos, has warned that around 33,000 establishments are facing bankruptcy because of virus restrictions, with up to 250,000 staff facing unemployment.

"We’re happy for the restaurants (but) extremely alarmed for the bars that will be closed for two weeks," UMIH’s Paris region president Franck Delvau told AFP.

Most insurers would be unwilling to pay compensation for loss of revenue, he added.

The government has said it will take every precaution necessary to avoid a new state of emergency that would require a generalised lockdown like the one imposed at the height of the outbreak, from mid-March to mid-May.

More than 32,000 people have died from Covid-19 in France with another 49 fatalities on Saturday.