Jean Castex announced Thursday evening a cautious deconfinement for December 15, the date on which travel will be authorized everywhere in France but a curfew will be established from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. It will only be lifted on Christmas Eve, but not on December 31.
In addition, cinemas, theaters and museums will remain closed for three additional weeks, contrary to what Emmanuel Macron had envisaged, due to the increase in the number of contaminations.
Here are the main points of Prime Minister Jean Castex’s speech on Thursday:
–
A curfew at 8 p.m.
A curfew is introduced from Tuesday, from 8 p.m. and until 6 a.m.. This measure is reinforced compared to what had been envisaged, since it is 9 p.m. which was initially planned. Consequence: stores will be forced to close at this time, with some exceptions, and exceptional travel certificates remain mandatory in the evening, for business trips in particular.
Travel will be authorized to go to work, to take care of oneself, to look after a child or to bring assistance to a vulnerable person.
From Tuesday, exit certificates will no longer be necessary during the day. There will no longer be any time or distance limitation. Departures on vacation from region to region will therefore be authorized, the important thing will be not to go out after 8 p.m.
Christmas saved
“Christmas occupies a special place”, explains Jean Castex. The curfew will not apply that evening and it will therefore be possible to travel to spend New Years Eve with family or friends. With a recommendation for a maximum of six adults.
The Prime Minister also recommended to “limit (the) interactions during the 5 days preceding” a meeting with an elderly or vulnerable person to the coronavirus.
New year sacrificed
On December 31, the 8 p.m. curfew will finally be maintained. Parties with friends until the countdown to midnight will therefore be impossible, and the instruction to keep a maximum of six adults in a room will always apply. Bars and restaurants remain closed.
This New Year’s Eve “concentrates all the ingredients for an epidemic rebound”, and “if the circulation had continued to decrease sharply, we could have assumed this risk, but this is not the case” and we must “respect the rule of curfew, stay at home, therefore, on December 31, “explained Jean Castex.
Invite friends over to sleep over? The Prime Minister has not formally prohibited this hypothesis, but “our objective is to limit movements as much as possible.” “The best way to celebrate the arrival of the year 2021 is to pay attention and be responsible “, added the Minister of Health Olivier Véran.
Cinemas and theaters closed
Theaters, museums, theaters and cinemas will remain closed “three more weeks”. This also applies to museums, amusement parks, casinos or circuses. A reassessment will be made from January 7th.
For places of worship, the gauge will not be increased until January.
The objective is to “avoid increasing flows”, explains Jean Castex.
No decision for ski resorts
Jean Castex has not announced any measure for ski resorts. A new meeting with professionals is scheduled for Friday.
–
“We are not at the end of this second wave.”
Jean Castex
–
Emmanuel Macron had set the ceiling at “5,000 new cases per day” to further ease the restriction measures on December 15. We are far from it. The daily average of contaminations is even twice as high with more than 10,000 contaminations. And it starts to rise again: 13,000 cases on Tuesday, 14,500 on Wednesday …
What Emmanuel Macron envisaged
On November 24, the head of state explained that “the confinement could be lifted” on December 15 if sanitary conditions permitted. “We will therefore be able to move again without authorization, including between regions, and spend Christmas with the family,” he announced. “A curfew from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. will be put in place. We will be able to circulate freely on the evenings of December 24 and 31”, he hoped, and “cinemas, theaters, museums will be able to resume their work. activity”. Given the level of the epidemic, there may be changes on each of these points.
–
