<div class="wpcnt">
			<div class="wpa">
				<span class="wpa-about">Advertisements</span>
				<div class="u top_amp">
							<amp-ad width="300" height="265"
		 type="pubmine"
		 data-siteid="111265417"
		 data-section="1">
		</amp-ad>
				</div>
			</div>
		</div><p>The French government has announced new Covid-19 measures in an effort to curb the spread of coronavirus but stopped short of imposing drastic restrictions before New Year’s Eve.</p>
<p>Starting from next week, big events will be limited to 2,000 people indoors and 5,000 people outdoors.</p>
<p>People will be requested to sit down during concerts and customers will not be allowed to stand up in bars, French Prime Minister Jean Castex said.</p>
<p>Eating and drinking will be banned in cinemas, theatres, sport facilities and public transportation, including on long-distance routes.</p>
<p>Working from home will be mandatory at least three days per week for employees whose job makes it possible, Mr Castex added.</p>
<p>The new rules will be in place for at least three weeks, he said.</p>
<p>The move comes after France recorded more than 100,000 virus infections in a single day for the first time in the pandemic.</p>
<p>President Emmanuel Macron held a special virus video conference with key government members from his holiday residence at Fort de Bregancon on the French Riviera.</p>
<p>The new measures remain less strict than those put into place last December, when a nightly curfew was imposed across the country.</p>
<p>Mr Castex made basic recommendations for New Year’s Eve, including avoiding big parties and dinners, wearing a mask, ventilating the room and getting a Covid-19 test – all “common sense actions”, he said.</p>
<p>He confirmed that schools will reopen as scheduled on January 3 and said political rallies will not be affected by the new rules for democratic reasons before April’s presidential election.</p>
<p>The French government appeared to be trying to strike a balance between measures needed to relieve hospitals and keep the economy running at the same time, as the fast-spreading Omicron variant complicates the situation.</p>
<p>“We are in a race against the clock,” Mr Castex said.</p>
<p>More than one in 100 people in the Paris region have tested positive in the past week, according to the regional health service.</p>
<p>Most new infections are linked to the Omicron variant, which government experts predict will be dominant in France in the coming days.</p>
<p>Mr Macron is also wary of the impact on public opinion of potential harsh measures less than four months before the presidential election, in which he is expected to run.</p>
<p>Mr Castex stressed that hospitals’ intensive care units are not saturated because of more than 90% of France’s adults being fully vaccinated – in sharp contrast with the situation last year.</p>
<p>The government hopes to speed up the nation’s booster campaign by reducing the delay in getting the shot from four to three months after the previous vaccine shot.</p>
<p>The government on Monday also presented a bill aimed at creating a “vaccine pass”, which will allow only vaccinated people to enter public places, including restaurants, bars and cinemas.</p>
<p>The measure will be debated at parliament next month.</p>
			<div style="padding-bottom:15px;" class="wordads-tag" data-slot-type="belowpost">
				<div id="atatags-dynamic-belowpost-68ed2e7b53d2f">
					<script type="text/javascript">
						window.getAdSnippetCallback = function () {
							if ( false === ( window.isWatlV1 ?? false ) ) {
								// Use Aditude scripts.
								window.tudeMappings = window.tudeMappings || [];
								window.tudeMappings.push( {
									divId: 'atatags-dynamic-belowpost-68ed2e7b53d2f',
									format: 'belowpost',
								} );
							}
						}

						if ( document.readyState === 'loading' ) {
							document.addEventListener( 'DOMContentLoaded', window.getAdSnippetCallback );
						} else {
							window.getAdSnippetCallback();
						}
					</script>
				</div>
			</div>
Discover more from London Glossy Post
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.