France eases its lockdown next week

Visitors to France will be happy to see the easing of lockdown starting next week with restaurants and bars opening their terraces and some normality from the strck curfew.

May 19: The nighttime curfew is pushed back by two hours to 9 pm; non-essential shops can reopen; outdoor drinking and dining permitted with a maximum of six people at the same table; cultural venues including museums, cinemas, and theatres can reopen with a maximum capacity of 800 indoor and 1,000 outdoor; outdoor sporting venues can reopen with capacity capped at 1,000.

These are conditional on the epidemiological situation with areas where the incidence rate is over 400 cases per 100,000 population not allowed to proceed.

June 9: The curfew is pushed back by another two hours to 11 pm; bars and restaurants are allowed to welcome customers indoors with a maximum of six people per table; capacity at cultural and sporting venues is increased to 5,000 people with health passes; gyms can reopen with physical activity, including team sports, allowed both indoors and outdoors; large exhibitions and fairs can be held and welcome up to 5,000 people with health passes; foreign tourists with health passes can enter the country.

the curfew is lifted as is the 1,000 capacity rule for large events but attendees will be required to show their health passes; nightclubs remain closed.

Brussels wants EU vaccine passports ready by the start of summer

France launches COVID health pass for travel to its overseas territories

Vaccination is gathering pace. More than 14.6 million people have received their first dose with 6.1 million now fully vaccinated. The country of 67 million aims to have administered 20 million first doses by mid-May and 30 million by mid-June.

Its COVID-19 tracking application has also since last week allowed users to store vaccination certificates and test results to allow for travel with its overseas territories. The government said that this functionality will be converted to match the European Green Certificate when it launches in late May/early June.