The mayor of Paris announced this Saturday, December 18 the cancellation of the celebrations planned on the famous Parisian avenue on New Year’s Eve. The rapid spread of the Omicron variant in France has also pushed the government to restrict access to certain places to only those vaccinated, comments the foreign press.
“The mayor of Paris announced on Saturday [18 décembre] the cancellation of the fireworks and concerts planned on the Champs-Elysées for New Year’s Eve, in order to apply the measures requested by the government to fight against the epidemic ”, comments on the Swiss daily The weather. “In view of the resurgence of the pandemic and the new government announcements, the City of Paris regrets having to cancel all the festivities planned on the Champs-Élysées on December 31”, said the municipality.
The day before, the Prime Minister, Jean Castex, had indeed called on local elected officials to give up the great New Year’s Eve festivities to avoid gatherings and the consumption of alcohol on the public highway. On the famous Parisian avenue, therefore, “The fireworks will not be fired, and the DJ sets will unfortunately not be able to take place this year ”. The previous year, recalls the title, “All the festivities had been canceled for the Christmas holidays due to the curfew imposed to fight the epidemic, which had only been lifted for Christmas Eve”.
These announcements come at a time when “7 to 10% of new coronavirus contaminations in France are believed to be caused by the Omicron variant”, comments on his side The Guardian, quoting the French Minister of Health, Olivier Véran. In its direct on the evolution of the health situation, the British newspaper also indicates that restrictions come into force this Saturday in France for travelers from and to the United Kingdom, which can only take place in the event of compelling motive.
Concerns about the Omicron variant also prompted the executive to “From the beginning of next year, put in place a new vaccination pass, which will be necessary to access restaurants or make long journeys by public transport”, add The time from germany. Until now “A negative test could be enough”. In addition, the authorities wish “Make their recommendations on childhood immunizations early next week”, which could start on December 22 “on a voluntary basis”.
Restrictions throughout Europe
France is far from being the only European country to take action against the upsurge in Covid-19 cases. In the United Kingdom, where the number of new contaminations was 93,000 on Friday, December 17, the government is considering the establishment of containment after Christmas to bring the numbers down. Denmark – classified, like France, “high-risk infection zone” by Berlin – has for its part announced the closure of cinemas, theaters and concert halls.
As for the Netherlands, they could take a further step. The government is meeting this Saturday with public health experts and could imminently announce the closure of all non-essential businesses, schools, bars, restaurants and other public places.
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