President Emmanuel Macron is trying to stave off a revolt in Marseilles after widespread criticism of his government’s order to shut down bars and restaurants in France’s second city as part of a toughening of rules to combat Covid-19, reports The Sunday Times.
Local leaders united to denounce the measures announced by Olivier Véran, the health minister, which put the city and neighbouring Aix-en-Provence — together home to 1.9 million people — on “maximum alert”, one step behind a return to total lockdown.
“I’m not going to say that there is going to be a revolution in Marseilles, but when people do not understand something, they cannot accept it and they will revolt,” thundered Michèle Rubirola, the Green-left mayor.
Renaud Muselier, the centre-right head of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region, complained of “collective punishment”. On Friday, restaurateurs and bar owners, fearing for their livelihood, held a mass protest in the city centre.
The authorities have since watered down the measure. The shutdown, set to come into force yesterday, will now start at midnight tonight and will be reviewed after one week rather than two, as first planned.
Rules are being tightened elsewhere in France: from tomorrow, bars in Paris, Lyons and nine other cities on “heightened alert” — the next level down — must close from 10pm. No more than 10 people will be allowed to gather in public spaces and most gyms and sports halls will be closed. Weddings, parties and social events will be restricted to 30 people.
The French Open tennis championships at Roland-Garros begins today, four months late, in front of only 1,000 spectators a day — about 3% of its capacity.
In France as a whole, 14,412 cases were reported yesterday, after a record 16,096 on Thursday, and compared with 6,042 in the UK. Some 6.9% of tests are positive and the death rate has surged most days to above 50 — against about 40 a day in the UK.
During a live television debate, Jean Castex, the prime minister, attempted to justify government policy to a succession of people: among them, a Marseilles restaurateur fearing for the survival of her business, a woman who could not see her grandchildren and two students worried that they might never find a job.
Read more of this report from The Sunday Times (subscription required).