French Prime Minister Jean Castex said Thursday that France will end audience capacity limits for concert halls, sporting matches and other events from February 2nd, part of a gradual lifting of Covid-19 restrictions made possible by a vaccine pass that will be required for most public areas starting Monday, reports FRANCE 24.
Face masks will also no longer be required outside from February 2nd.
During a press conference on Thursday, Castex said France’s general Covid-19 situation was starting to change in a more favourable manner, allowing restrictions to be loosened.
Castex also justified the easing of restrictions with France's new Covid-19 vaccination pass that will come into effect on Monday, January 24th, provided it gets approved by the Constitutional Council.
The prime minister added that the pass could even be suspended if the Covid-19 situation improved dramatically. Health Minister Olivier Véran said that would depend on how much pressure hospitals are under.
In a first step towards loosening Covid measures, the audience capacity limits for concert halls, sporting matches and other events at 2,000 people indoors, and 5,000 outdoors will be lifted from February 2.
"We are a bit more confident in saying we can relax some of these constraints and let people return to life as normal as possible," Véran said.
Previously, a health pass could also be obtained with a recent negative Covid-19 test, a possibility the government ended in its bid to convince more people to get jabs. Castex said 93 percent of French adults now had at least one dose.
"Since the announcement of the vaccine pass, one million French people have gotten vaccinated. That's good, but it's not enough," he said, adding that booster shots would be extended to children aged 12 to 17 starting Monday.