France has revised its COVID-19 social measures, allowing indoor gigs and events with fewer than 5,000 people to commence without social distancing guidelines. This change in policy comes as the country continues to report thousands of new positive coronavirus cases each day. At the time of the August 26 press conference announcing this shift, France had 132,090 active cases of COVID-19, with 3,304 new cases confirmed on August 25.
There are caveats to this relaxed policy, however. The French government has highlighted “red-zone” areas to identify locales where cases are spiking. Red-zone sites are exceptions to the new policy and will be allowed to host events, but both masks and social distancing will be required. These red-zones include Paris, Lyon, and Giuronde, where Maseille and Bordeueax can be found.
The new measures are being enacted to jumpstart France’s struggling economy, Prime Minister Jean Castex said in a recent interview with France Inter. Although France is among the first countries to ease its measures on indoor events, recent history has shown it may still be too soon.
Via: IQ
Featured image: Tom Wilkinson
