French bars and cafes to reopen as lockdown eases

(FASTNEWS | COLOMBO) –  Bars, shops and cultural spaces across France are set to reopen as the country starts lifting restrictions aimed at preventing the spread of coronavirus.

As of Wednesday, groups of up to six people will be allowed to eat together at outdoor restaurant terraces.

France’s nationwide curfew is also being pushed back from 19:00 to 21:00.

Some medical experts in the country had raised concerns about the number of new daily Covid-19 infections, which now average about 13,000.

But that figure is far lower than the peaks of more than 40,000 daily cases recorded as recently as last month.

France’s vaccination campaign has also been accelerating in recent weeks, with more than 20 million people now having received at least one dose, and almost nine million having received both.

The government had set a target of vaccinating 20 million people with a first dose of the jab by mid-May.