- Recent polls show that the vast majority of French people support the Covid Pass, even including the new expansion of cafes and restaurants.
- Nearly a quarter of people across the country opposed the extension of the pass on Saturday.
- The number of people hospitalized in France due to Covid-19 is still far below the previous high, but the government acknowledges that the country is fighting the fourth wave of the virus.
France began to enforce the Covid pass advocated by President Emmanuel Macron in cafes, restaurants and trains on Monday. The government hopes to tighten rules to increase vaccination rates, but this has sparked weeks of anger protest.
In the past three weeks, you need this pass to go to the cinema, to listen to a concert or to visit a museum, and to participate in routine activities of daily life in France, such as drinking coffee in a cafe or traveling by international coach. -City train.
Nearly a quarter of people across the country rallied against the extension of the pass on Saturday, the largest of four consecutive weekend protests, but Macron showed little patience with protesters’ concerns about vaccinations or suspected violations of civil liberties. .
The Health Pass is generated as a QR code through a complete vaccination process, a recent negative virus test, or recovery from Covid-19. The government hopes that consumers and businesses will have a one-week grace period to adapt to the new regulations.
As the cafe opened on Monday morning and had to survive the months-long closure during the pandemic lockdown, they showed early signs of frustration.
“They don’t have a health pass, and I can’t do anything about it,” Mirella Mihalka, who was waiting at a table in a cafe in central Paris, said, pointing to two customers who sat down but refused to serve.
“Some people understand it quickly, some people don’t. It will be difficult, we are not the police!” she added.
In a cafe in the center of the southwestern city of Bordeaux, the manager, David Forton, described the new regulations as “painful” and required the hiring of an additional person to carry out inspections.
“If we turn our customers away, how will we react? It will definitely slow it down, and it may become a mess when we are busy.”
Macron hopes that the plan will further accelerate vaccination efforts in France, where more than 55% of people now suffer a double blow. The assistants pointed out that since the plan was outlined, the number of new bookings for the first jab has approached 7 million.
The president, who will face re-election next year, has repeatedly uploaded his information on TikTok, a popular social media platform among young people in recent days.
“Vaccination. Vaccination. Vaccination,” Macron said in his latest video on Friday.
“This is a question of good citizens… If we infect our friends, neighbors or grandparents, our freedom is worthless. Freedom is responsibility.”
The French Ministry of the Interior said that about 237,000 people protested across France on Saturday, including 17,000 in Paris, surpassing the 204,000 recorded last weekend-an unusual number for protests during the peak summer break.
In his speech at the weekly Paris game, Macron made no secret of his disappointment with the protesters. He described the protesters as “tens of thousands of citizens who have lost their minds, so much so that they say they live under a dictatorship.”
“I will not succumb to their radical violence,” he added.
Le Monde noticed Macron’s contempt, saying: “Just a few months before the presidential election, the president did not hesitate to split” while seeming to maintain the support of his core voters.
The number of people hospitalized in France due to Covid-19 is still far below the previous high, but the government acknowledges that the country is fighting the fourth wave of the virus. Corsica and the Mediterranean coast have seen the fastest increase in cases, with an influx of summer holidaymakers.
But the biggest concern is that France’s overseas territories in the Indian Ocean and the Caribbean, especially Martinique and Guadeloupe, have ordered new blockades due to slow vaccination.
However, recent opinion polls show that the vast majority of French people support the pass, even the expansion of cafes and restaurants.
Since July 21st, a pass has been required to visit cultural venues such as cinemas, theaters, and museums. Its extension was approved by the French Constitutional Council on Thursday.
It is needed for both indoor and outdoor areas of the restaurant, but not for the subway system and suburban traffic.
