French Restaurants, Stadiums to Stay Shut Over Holiday Season
- Government’s goal is to allow shops to re-open on Dec. 1
- No fans allowed in stadiums before January, Macron says
A closed restaurant on the Champs-Elysees in Paris on Nov. 12.
Photographer: Stephane De Sakutin/AFP/Getty Images
Two weeks before the scheduled end of France’s second coronavirus lockdown, signs are already mounting that the return to normal will be slow as the government seeks to avoid a resurgence of the pandemic during the holiday season.
Fans won’t be allowed to attend sporting events until the beginning of 2021, and even then the number of spectators in stadiums will be limited, President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday in a video conference call with representatives from professional and amateur sports. Bars and restaurants, meanwhile, will remain closed until mid-January as the government tries to tamp down the resurgent coronavirus outbreak, France Info radio reported.