Paris: already French summer already? Only three days ago, the country opened a nightclub for the first time in 16 months, completing the national efforts that protracted to return to normal pre-pandemic just in time for a summer vacation.
But with a Delta variant now driving infection rises again, potential new restrictions.
President Emmanuel Macron is holding a top-level virus security meeting on Monday morning and then giving a speech broadcast at night, the type of solemn speech he gave to any turning point in the French virus epidemic.
This time, he is expected to announce plans for laws that require health care workers to be vaccinated, and may require special Covid-19 feeds for restaurants or other daily activities.
Another possibility includes, back to the limit of the number of people permitted in public places that have just been resurrected in May after one of the longest closures in the world.
Or the announcement that France can start charging money for some virus tests, which until now have been free for everyone in the French region.
Every new steps tend to be relatively mild for now, but aiming to remind French that the pandemic is not over.
“We have to live with a virus,” European Minister Clement Beaune, said on Sunday.
“Living with a virus means we don’t close everything.” The main government weapon, and the main concern, is vaccination.
France has been vaccinated by 40% of the population and vaccines are widely available for anyone 12 and more.
But demand has receded in recent weeks, partly because of doubt and also because some people think they will get their shots when they return from vacation.
Meanwhile, the French restaurant and bar are growing again, Tour de France draws tight crowds throughout the country, and Hollywood stars posing arms and masks on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival.
Cheek kiss makes a comeback.
Like the La Bellevilloise nightclub opened again Friday in Paris Timur, the owner prepared for the possibility that the party could be short-lived.
But Clubgoers likes to rediscover the dance scene.
Parisian Laurent Queige calls it “liberation, extraordinary happiness.” Clubgoer Sophie Anne Descubes said he was impressed with the hardness of how the club checked his QR code which showed him fully vaccinated or just tested, said, “I don’t have fear, just joy and the desire to step on.” French virus infection began to rise again two weeks ago, and Medecins SOS health services have registered a slight increase in demand for emergency virus care.
The number of people at the French Hospital and intensive care units have declined for weeks, but doctors predict will also increase in the coming weeks when increasing Delta variant infections regarding vulnerable population, as they have in England and Spain.
Meanwhile, Macron also met with the car industry figures Monday when he tried to combine the warning of the virus with a message of hope for one of the largest economies in the world.
New infections threaten the French all-important tourism industry and an ambitious Macron economic recovery plan, only nine months before the next presidential election.