A patrol of gendarmes carried out this Saturday, January 30, a control operation of the rules applying to the shops inside the Grand Quetigny shopping mall. The director of the Carrefour hypermarket presented his customer counting system.
The prefecture regularly organizes checks to verify compliance with the health rules applying to establishments open to the public in general, and to traders in particular. One of these operations was followed by Christophe Marot, secretary general of the prefecture of Côte-d’Or, inside the Grand Quetigny shopping center this Saturday, January 30, 2021 shortly before 6 p.m.
Quetigny being located in the gendarmerie zone, ten soldiers were engaged in the control device with a patrol of the Quetigny bridle, a patrol of reservists and a dog team. The soldiers were commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Michel Westrelin.
“Respect barrier gestures and especially in high traffic areas”
The operation consisted of verifying that the public was properly informed of the measurements outside the shops, the compulsory counting system for reception and the density of consumers in the commercial units. Until this Saturday evening, the gauge was one person for 8 m², it will change to one person for 10 m² from Sunday January 31 for food stores. In Grand Quetigny, the Carrefour hypermarket in particular will be able to continue its activity.
“The health situation of the country is not obvious with an incidence rate which is high, (…) it is necessary to check in the areas of affluence that the rules are respected”, explained Christophe Marot. “If we do not want to reconfine, it is all the more important to respect barrier gestures and especially in areas with high traffic,” insisted the secretary general of the prefecture.
“Customers are respectful”
The crew of gendarmes and the representative of the State spoke with the director of the Carrefour hypermarket, Grégory Roche, who presented the system put in place. At each entry, an agent activates an application at the option of the consumers who enter, the customers leaving their counted at checkout level. The management team can thus consult attendance “at time t”. The hypermarket has a commercial area of 15,720 m². The gauge will therefore go from 1,966 to 1,572 people.
In case of approaching the limit of the gauge, the entrance on the bazaar side is closed. Once the limit is reached, customers must wait outside the hypermarket, or even outside the mall. Officers also verify the proper wearing of the mask and can block entry to a person who refuses to use this protective device.
The director of the hypermarket said that from next week, Carrefour would recommend opting for a surgical mask. “Customers are respectful,” he said, however. In addition, peak hours will be indicated outside, knowing that the opening time has been brought forward to 7:30 a.m.
“The purpose of a regulation is that it is readable”
“On the whole, the rules are respected”, noted Christophe Marot at the end of the journey, adding that “the stores do outdoor advertising, the stores of more than 400 m² have a counting system, that of Carrefour is robust, at Intersport, there is a dedicated person for the counting so it is satisfactory ”.
However, the representative of the prefecture noted that some outdoor displays were too small and did not allow good visibility from consumers. “The aim of a regulation is that it is readable”, underlined Christophe Marot. Certain counts in cells of less than 400 m² presented an “artisanal” aspect which led the gendarmes to make reminders. The token entry and exit system is recommended.
Central square curfew control
At present, the prefecture of Côte-d’Or is awaiting the publication of the government decree specifying the outlines of the new restrictions. It was announced by the Prime Minister that shopping centers over 20,000 m² should close. Grand Quetigny has 47,000 m².
As an extension of the operation, the gendarme crew went to the Quetigny Center tram stop next to the central square to check that the curfew was respected. The gendarmes checked the certificates of the passengers getting off the tram while attendance was becoming increasingly scarce as the clocks moved away from 6 p.m.
Jean-Christophe Tardivon
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