French prime minister Jean Castex has stated this week that the pandemic resembled «a film without an ending». An anti-record in new covid infections amid the spread of the omicron variant of the virus SARS-CoV-2 in Europe, forced the government to announce new epidemiological restrictions, British public broadcaster BBC reports.
On Christmas day, December 25, France recorded more than 100,000 new infections, which is the highest number reported in the country since the pandemic began. On Monday, December 27, French Prime Minister Jean Castex announced the new measures at a news conference after a crisis cabinet meeting.
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The new rules for France set forth from 3 January that remote working will become compulsory for those professions, which can work remotely. Public gatherings will be restricted to 2,000 people for indoor events and for outdoor public gatherings – to 5,000 people. A novelty will be a ban on eating and drinking on long distance transport.
French nightclubs will remain closed until some unspecified date in the future and cafés and bars will be able to provide table service only. As to face masks, it will become compulsory in city centres. The French government has decided to shorten the length of time between booster shots from four months after the last vaccination to three months, BBC reports.
France announces new restrictions and likens pandemic to never-ending film
