On Wednesday 9 June 2021, France enters its third and penultimate phase of easing Covid-19 restrictions as indicators continue to show the country's rate of infections subsiding.
Face masks remain required until at least 30 June.
Starting Wednesday 9 June, the nationwide curfew will change from 9pm to 11pm. And after a seven-month ban on indoor dining, cafés and restaurants across the country will be permitted to welcome customers inside, but at half the seating capacity and with tables limited to a maximum of six people. Outdoor terraces can open to full capacity, up from the 50% allowed since 19 May, although patio dining is also limited to tables of six people.
Shops will be allowed to accommodate twice as many customers, but gatherings of more than 10 people, with the exception of tour groups, are still prohibited. For gatherings of 1,000 or more people,France's new health pass also comes into effect on 9 June, enabling access to activities with large crowds. The pass, available digitally through the “Tous Anti-Covid” virus tracing app, or in paper form, provides proof that an individual age 11 and older has been fully vaccinated against the virus or has tested negative with a recent Covid-19 PCR test. The health pass will allow access to indoor and outdoor sporting events, cultural venues, casinos, festivals, trade shows and funfairs. Casinos can open at half-capacity, up from 35, with the health pass required for venues with more than 1,000 people on site. Trade shows and funfairs can re-open to the public starting Wednesday.
Museums can welcome double the number of visitors than they were allowed to when they re-opened on 19 May. Cinemas, theatres and circus big tops can let in up to 65% of their seating capacity, which is an increase from 35%. The new rules allow up to 5,000 spectators in a single audience, although the health pass will be required above the 1,000 mark. Zoos are also allowed to open their gates to visitors at 65% capacity.
Starting Wednesday 9 June 2021, European Union residents will no longer need a compelling reason Рknown in France as a motif imp̩rieux Рto travel to France. Only non-vaccinated EU residents and visitors from seven other countries deemed "green" (that France released on Friday) will need to produce a recent negative Covid-19 antigen or PCR test. The seven green-lighted countries are Australia, Israel, Japan, Lebanon, New Zealand, Singapore and South Korea. People who are not vaccinated need a PCR or antigen test within 72 hours before departure.
Travel to and from "orange" countries – the United Kingdom, North America, and almost all of Asia and Africa – will remain subject to heavier restrictions. Even vaccinated individuals travelling from "orange" countries to France will be required to provide a recent negative Covid-19 test. Non-vaccinated travellers from "orange" countries can only travel to France for a pressing reason (such as a medical or family emergency). They will also need to self-quarantine for seven days upon arrival.
Under the updated guidelines, all travellers (vaccinated or not) from 16 countries classified as "red" will need to provide negative Covid-19 tests and to quarantine for 7-10 days upon arrival due to concern over surging variants of the virus. Those countries include India, South Africa, Turkey and much of South America, including Brazil.
Guidelines recommending employees work from home, whenever possible, will be eased across France from 9 June. The country's Covid-19 protocol had, since late October 2020, compelled firms to allow employees to work remotely 100% of the workweek whenever telework was possible. The protocol was loosened somewhat in January 2021 to allow workers one day a week in the office should they feel a need to return.
As of Wednesday 9 June, employers are asked, in consultation with local labour unions, to set a minimum number of days a week for remote work whenever possible. That measure is aimed at preventing a mass return to offices across the country. For example, the French state has set a minimum of three days a week of remote work for public sector employees. Workplace canteens will also see an easing of restrictions. The office party makes its return to the workplace social calendar, conditioned on a "strict respect" of social-distancing measures, face masks and ventilation precautions. It is recommended that the get-togethers in professional settings be consigned to outdoor spaces with no more than 25 people taking part. Such "convivial moments" as the government protocol calls them, had been barred since October.
More people will be allowed at wedding and civil union ceremonies. Those attending can fill one of every two seats, and 75 people can attend a funeral ceremony from Wednesday, an increase from the 50 decreed in May.
Indoor gyms and covered swimming pools re-open to the general public on 9 June 9 at 50% capacity, except for contact sports. Spectators at indoor sporting venues can attend at 65% capacity, up to 5,000 seated spectators. The new health pass will be required for crowds over 1,000. The new guidelines allow outdoor sports, including contact sports, with up to 25 participants. Outdoor amateur sporting competitions can now be held with up to 500 participants.
France's fourth and final phase of easing restrictions is expected to begin on 30 June, with the night curfew lifted entirely. Pandemic permitting, Phase Four could also see capacity limits lifted in many public spaces, although amateur outdoor sporting events will remain limited to 2,500 participants. Night clubs remain closed pending government decisions expected later in June. Open-air festivals with audiences that aren't seated will need to respect a limit of one festival-goer per 4m² of available space. The health pass will still be required for indoor and outdoor events with more than 1,000 in attendance. From 1 July, France will also recognise a pan-European health pass authorising travel within the European Union.
MARTINA NICOLLS
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MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of: The Paris Residences of James Joyce (2020), Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).
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