France is not yet prepared to let shops selling "non-essential" goods reopen as efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19 must be upheld, Marc Fesneau, Junior Minister of Relations with Parliament said on Wednesday.
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An update on the rules for these businesses had been expected on Thursday, when Prime Minister Jean Castex is due to hold a news conference regarding the COVID-19 situation in France, almost two weeks into a new national lockdown.
When President Emmanuel Macron announced the lockdown he had said that restaurants, cafes and shops not selling essential goods would have to close down for at least two weeks.
Asked about if non-essential shops such as hairdressers or bookstores could reopen, Fesneau told France Info radio: "Not at this stage", adding: "I understand the distress of these businesses".
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"Each time people move around, they multiply infection risk and multiply risk of the virus spreading... When we feel that restriction measures are having an impact, we will assess if we can ease pressure on these businesses," he added.
The peak of the coronavirus pandemic in France is still to come, its top health official Jerome Salomon said on Monday, urging the population to remain vigilant.
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France registered a total of 1,829,659 confirmed cases of coronavirus on Tuesday, up by 22,180 over the last 24 hours, the health ministry said.
The ministry also reported 472 new deaths in hospitals from the disease over the last day, adding the numbers had increased sharply over the past week because some institutions were catching up on reporting data that had not been given previously.
(REUTERS)
Many are worried that France’s independent bookshops – already struggling against large retailers and online giants – may not survive being forced to close for a second Covid-19 lockdown.
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France’s independent bookshops were forced to close as the country entered a second phase of lockdown on October 30 to stop the recrudescence of Covid-19 cases. Unions and others have criticised the decision and are organising initiatives to support booksellers.
“Since theatres and cinemas are closed, bookshops are the last place where you can have access to culture,” said Anne Martelle, president of the Union of French Booksellers. “Going to a bookshop is a low-risk cultural activity, so it’s a shame to stop it.”
In recent days, France’s cultural community has spared no effort in lobbying the government to keep bookshops open. The sector’s main unions issued a joint statement on October 28 asking the authorities to “leave them open so that the lockdown doesn’t lead to cultural isolation”.
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Journalist and literary critic François Busnel launched a petition against their closure on Friday. Closing bookshops means “depriving us of the best weapon we have to fight malevolent ideas”, he told the Franceinfo media network, referring to the terrorist attack at the Basilica of Notre-Dame in Nice the previous day.
“There are millions of people in this country – and we could see it in the first lockdown – who want to read and need to read,” Busnel said. At the same time, closing bookshops means putting part of the cultural sector into “a precarious state, and in some cases, out of business”.
Busnel added that President Emmanuel Macron should meet with writers and representatives from the Union of French Booksellers so they could make their case for a reopening.
“At a point when so many of us feel stressed and isolated, books allow us to reflect on the nature of human life in all its aspects,” said Vincent Montagne, president of the National Union of Editors.
“It’s a fundamental good, essential for those whose hunger can’t be sated with food alone.”
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The organisers of literary prizes have also lent their support to the campaign to keep bookshops open. France’s renowned Prix Goncourt, for example, has been “postponed indefinitely because bookshops will be closed”, said Françoise Rossinot, head of the Goncourt Academy, in comments to AFP. The prize is usually awarded in November.