PARIS (Reuters) – Nearly a third of the French were locked up for a month on Saturday, with many expressing fatigue and confusion over the latest set of restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of the highly contagious coronavirus.
The government announced the new measures Thursday after a jump in COVID-19 cases in Paris and parts of northern France.
The new restrictions are less strict than those in place during the spring and November 2020 lockdowns, raising concerns that they may not be effective.
“I hope it will end pretty soon, although I have questions about how efficient the measures are,” said Kasia Gluc, 57, a graphics editor on Champs Elysees Avenue in Paris.
There was frustration among the so-called non-essential retailers who had to close.
Stores that are allowed to remain open include stores that sell food, books, flowers and chocolate, as well as hairdressers and cobblers, but not clothes, furniture and beauty salons, according to a list released Friday night.
Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, who said a total of 90,000 stores should close, defended the list of stores that could remain open, especially those selling chocolate and flowers just two weeks before Easter.
“I am not saying at all that this is ideal, but every time it happens with a simple logic: to guarantee the health of the French people while preserving economic activity and shops as much as possible,” he told France Inter radio.
People can leave the home as often as they want within a 30 km (19 mile) radius under certain conditions, provided they fill out a return, the Interior Ministry said. Prime Minister Jean Castex had only referred to a radius of 10 km on Thursday.
“We need a consent form, but compared to previous lockdowns, we are still much freer to go out. So are we locked up? Yes and no, ”said Antonin Le Marechal, 21 ,.
The government, which has avoided using the word lockdown to describe the latest restrictions, argues that the measures are needed to ease the pressure on intensive care units that are about to overflow.
A large number of Parisians left the city before the restrictions took effect at midnight.
Report by Ardee Napolitano and Noemie Olivie, written by Sybille de La Hamaide, edited by Christina Fincher