“Alors on danse!” – people are dancing again in Paris.

New corona loosening will come into force in France this Wednesday, and discotheques are allowed to open.

Many restaurateurs in the country can see the relief.

In popular nightclubs, the tables are fully booked in the coming days.

“Everything is allowed starting tomorrow,” calls the bartender at the Parisian Café Chéri on Tuesday evening, adding the obligatory “almost anything”.

After all, he still had to wear the mask behind the counter.

Niklas Zaboji

Economic correspondent in Paris

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Until the end of February, this actually also applies to the guests who walk back and forth indoors.

But many French people have not been that precise for weeks.

Other rules are also being followed more and more laxly: one restaurant checks guests for their Vaccinal Passport, which documents vaccination or recovery, while the other does not.

The mask, usually made of fabric, there has never been an FFP2 obligation like in Germany, often covers more of the chin than the nose and mouth, even in the Paris Metro.

And there's already dancing on Tuesday evening, the longer the evening in the bar gets.

The new looseness of the French is no coincidence.

Because the corona situation has eased noticeably since the end of January.

If the nationwide incidence had climbed to almost 4,000 by then, it has more than halved since then.

The number of new admissions to hospitals has been falling significantly, with a view to severe courses even since mid-January.

More double vaccinated than in Germany

The French government also refers to this.

"The epidemic is decreasing significantly and every day confirms this," said government spokesman Gabriel Attal on Monday - two years to the day after an 80-year-old Chinese tourist died in a Paris clinic for the first time in Europe.

Attal emphasized that the situation in French hospitals is still not normal.

But she just relaxes.

Around 55 percent of the French have a booster vaccination, i.e. a similar number as in Germany.

However, the proportion of double vaccinated people in France is higher at 79 percent.

The new easing had already been announced on January 20th.

They are now coming into force piece by piece.

In addition to the discotheques, the popular drinking "au comptoir", i.e. at the bar, has also been allowed again since this Wednesday.

Many French had missed this badly in the past few weeks and did not understand why the risk of corona should be lower when sitting at the table.

Parisian counters began to fill up again on Wednesday morning.

Standing concerts have also been allowed again in France since Wednesday.

The on-board bistros in TGV and Intercity trains are also open.

You can now eat again on trains, but also in cinemas.

The mask requirement in outdoor areas, which was often only followed half-heartedly, was abolished on February 2nd.

The same applies to audience limits for cultural and sporting events and the obligation for employers to let their employees work from home three to four days a week.

Since then, the “télétravail”, as the French call home work, has only been recommended by the French government.