France reopens its terraces and its museums, Austria its restaurants, New York falls the mask: the population of several Western countries finds a little freedom on Wednesday thanks to a decline in the epidemic, unlike the India still plunged into an acute health crisis.
After six months of slow-moving life, the French can once again eat or drink on the terrace from Wednesday, the latter being limited to 50% of their capacity and to six people per table. Restaurants and cafes will have to wait until June 9 to welcome dining room customers.
French cinemas, theaters and museums can once again welcome the public – masked – with maximum attendance figures. And the start of the curfew is delayed by two hours, from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.
In recent days, coffee makers have been busy getting ready, delivered in crates of drinks and beer kegs, tidy terraces and installed. Some have opened reservation slots, which have already been filled. It’s the return to “life, the real one” and the possibility of meeting “the girlfriends” over a drink, rejoices Amélie, Parisian 32 years old.
This partial lifting of the restrictions was decided in favor of a decrease in the circulation of the virus, which however remains high (around 14,000 new cases per day on average), and a ramp-up of the vaccination campaign in a country where the pandemic has killed 108,000 people.
The return to normal life goes even further in Austria, where restaurants, hotels and places of culture reopen fully on Wednesday. However, it will be necessary to show a white paw at the entrance of the various places, by carrying out a test on site when possible or by presenting a negative result, proof of vaccination or antibodies.
– No more masks in New York –
After having been at the epicenter of the pandemic in the spring of 2020 and observed extreme caution in the face of the coronavirus for months, New York marks the lifting of many quantitative capacity restrictions still imposed on Wednesday, especially in restaurants.
The increase in the vaccination rate – more than 60% of New Yorkers have received at least one dose – and the fall in the Covid positivity rate, now below 1.5%, have also pushed several large banks such as JPMorgan Chase or Goldman Sachs sounded the end of widespread teleworking.
To these relaxations was added the authorization for vaccinated people to no longer wear the mask, even indoors: after a few days of hesitation, the governor of the State of New York ratified this authorization from the federal authorities, to from Wednesday.
But there is some confusion around this authorization, since no one checks whether people not wearing the mask have been vaccinated. Some traders, free to continue to impose the mask on their premises, have every intention of doing so, such as Juan Rosas, manager of a restaurant in Manhattan. “I think it’s too early, they are rushing,” he told AFP.
– “Summer of freedom” –
End of the crisis also in sight in Quebec, one of the Canadian provinces hardest hit by the Covid-19: Prime Minister François Legault announced Tuesday a “summer of freedom” with a gradual lifting of restrictions by the end of June . The curfew will be lifted on May 28 and the wearing of a mask will no longer be compulsory for people vaccinated from June 25.
“Today we see it, hope is there”, rejoiced during a press briefing Mr. Legault.
This hope of Western countries, where vaccination is in full swing, contrasts with the still catastrophic situation in India, where immunization campaigns had to be stopped in several places due to the passage of Cyclone Tauktae, which made at least 33 dead and 93 missing.
India, which has 1.3 billion inhabitants, on Tuesday counted 4,329 deaths, a new record, and 263,533 cases in 24 hours, bringing the total toll to more than 25 million cases and 278,719 deaths. Everywhere, hospitals are saturated, nursing staff at the end of their rope, oxygen and medicines are lacking.
The situation is also worrying in Argentina, which on Tuesday recorded record numbers of new cases (35,543) and deaths (745) for a single day.
“Do not give up, we know that we are going through difficult times,” said President Alberto Fernandez, who has promised to speed up vaccination. In the meantime, “there is no other way to preserve ourselves than to be far from the aure, to avoid transport, traffic,” he added.
The new coronavirus has killed at least 3.3 million people and infected more than 163 million people worldwide since the end of December 2019, according to a report established by AFP on Tuesday from official sources.
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