More Paris shops to close at night to tackle worsening COVID-19 crisis

[November 05, 2020]    PARIS (Reuters) - Paris will be placed under more restrictions to curb the worsening COVID-19 pandemic, including a requirement for more shops to close in the evening, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo told BFM TV on Thursday.

Mouffetard street is pictured as the national lockdown starts as part of the COVID-19 measures to fight a second wave of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Paris, France, October 30, 2020. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann

Hidalgo said this would entail shutting down certain shops selling takeaway food and drink at 10 p.m. local time, which would come on top of the existing national lockdown that has been imposed throughout France.

President Emmanuel Macron imposed a new lockdown last month, forcing non-essential shops - such as those not selling basic foods or medicines - to close, and making people use signed documents to justify being out on the streets.

Nevertheless, French authorities believed more measures were needed in Paris as they felt there were still too many people out in the capital late at night, in spite of the lockdown.

New COVID-19 lockdowns and curbs have stirred resistance across Europe even as countries including France and Spain deal with record daily infections and hospitals under pressure.

A French government source told Reuters this week that they had noted in Paris "clandestine parties, raves, private dinners", and felt stricter measures were needed.

"When you get people who are not playing by the rules of the game, and are therefore putting at risk the health of a large number of people, that is when you need to put in place new restrictions," Hidalgo said.

On Wednesday, France reported 40,558 new COVID-19 cases and a further 385 deaths, taking the country's total death toll from COVID to 38,674 while the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases stands at around 1.5 million.

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Angus MacSwan)

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