Christopher BarrettFrance’s recently appointed Prime Minister Jean Castex has announced that indoor live shows with audiences of up to 5,000 can now take place without social distancing in much of the country.
Masks remain mandatory at all indoor entertainment venues, including cinemas, while events with capacities of more than 5,000 remain banned until 30 October.
Said Castex, “I say to the French people, go to the cinema, go to the theatre, you risk nothing.
“We have to go to the theatre, to the cinema, we have to support the cultural sector.”
The relaxation in event guidelines does not apply to “red zones”, where there has been a spike in Covid-19 cases. They include Paris, parts of Marseille, the Bouches-du-Rhone region and Gironde in Bordeaux.
Yesterday, 26 August, an additional 5,429 confirmed cases of Covid-19 were reported in France – the country’s highest one-day total since April.