PARIS (Reuters) – Nearly a third of French people have been locked up for a month on Saturday, with many expressing fatigue and confusion over the latest set of restrictions to limit the spread of the highly contagious coronavirus.
The government on Thursday announced the new measures after a jump in COVID-19 cases in Paris and parts of northern France.
The new restrictions are less severe than those introduced during the spring and November 2020 closure periods, raising concerns that they may not be effective.
“I hope it will end soon, although I have questions about how effective the measures are,” Kasia Gluc, 57, a graphic editor, said on Champs Elysees Avenue in Paris.
There was frustration among so-called non-essential store owners who were forced to close.
Stores that are allowed to stay open include the sale of food, books, flowers and chocolates, as well as hairdressers and shoemakers, but not clothing, furniture and beauty stores, according to a list released Friday night.
Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, who said a total of 90,000 shops should close, defends the list of shops that could remain open, especially those that sell chocolate and flowers just two weeks before Easter.
“I am not saying at all that it is ideal, but it is done every time with a simple logic: guarantee the health of the French people, while preserving the economic activity and shops as much as possible,” he told France Inter radio said.
People can leave the house as often as they want within 30 km (19 miles), provided they fill out a statement, the Interior Ministry said. Premier Jean Castex on Thursday only referred to a radius of 10 km.
‘We need a letter of permission, but compared to previous exclusions we’re still much more free to go out. So are we locked up? Yes and no, ”said Antonin Le Marechal (21).
The government, which has avoided using the word lockdown to describe the latest constraints, argues that measures are needed to ease the pressure on the intensive care units that are almost overflowing.
A large number of Parisians left the city before the restrictions took effect at midnight.
Reporting by Ardee Napolitano and Noemie Olivie, written by Sybille de La Hamaide, edited by Christina Fincher