Accelerate on the test concerts and reopen each place according to the risk: while Emmanuel Macron is due to chair a meeting on Thursday on the reopening of closed places, a Senate fact-finding mission recommends, Tuesday, April 13, a tailor-made restart of the Most cultural places from the end of confinement.
"It is possible to resume a lot of cultural activities without making the population take health risks", declared the president of this fact-finding mission, Bernard Jomier (socialist related), presenting his conclusions to the press.
"The closure of many establishments does not appear to be based on the health plan", and keeping them closed is "an unjustified sanction", added one of the rapporteurs, Roger Karoutchi (LR).
Concretely, the senators estimate that "the museums and monuments, the cinemas and the concert halls in seated format could be the first authorized to reopen in a progressive way", but they "do not share the current option of the government of a reopening uniform by sector ", underlined Roger Karoutchi.
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On the contrary, they propose a tailor-made reopening, with the authorization of the prefect in collaboration with local elected officials, "even if the dates are not the same for everyone," he continued.
This prefectural authorization would guarantee "a control of the sanitary protocol", and "the adequacy of the programming" at the establishment.
The gauges, on the other hand, should be adapted according to the volume of the rooms, their layout and the ventilation conditions, rather than a general reduction to 50%.
The
5,000-person gauge
for large gatherings criticized
This case by case could in their eyes allow the holding of more festivals this summer, with an adaptation "according to the health protocol they present and their commitments in terms of control", rather than a fixed gauge.
As such, the senators judge that "the tonnage of 5,000 people retained by the government to ban large gatherings seems arbitrary and does not rest on any scientific basis".
Considering the standing test concerts carried out abroad insufficiently convincing, they are pushing for an acceleration of their organization in France.
>> To read: The occupation of the Odéon theater, an artists' struggle "to bring together the struggles"
In general, the mission plans to limit access to "large-scale" shows and festivals to those who are vaccinated or tested negative.
The mission, set up at the end of January, was able to hear scientists, representatives of the affected sectors or even foreign cultural institutions.
But the Minister of Culture Roselyne Bachelot could not be heard, having been hospitalized after contracting Covid-19.
Cultural venues have been closed since October 30, 2020, and President Emmanuel Macron gave hope, when announcing the third confinement at the end of March, a reopening "from mid-May" of certain establishments.
Meeting on the reopening of closed places
The head of state must precisely chair a meeting at the Élysée, Thursday April 15, at 6 p.m. to examine the protocols for reopening places closed because of the Covid-19 crisis.
"Following the meetings led by the ministers with the actors of the various sectors concerned by the closing of establishments, it will be a question of studying the health protocols envisaged for the gradual reopening" of these places, announced Tuesday the presidency.
Prime Minister Jean Castex and ministers Olivier Véran (Health), Bruno Le Maire (Economy), Jean-Michel Blanquer (Education), Gérald Darmanin (Interior), Gabriel Attal (spokesperson), Frédérique Vidal ( Higher education), Élisabeth Borne (Work), Roselyne Bachelot (Culture), Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne (Tourism), Clément Beaune (European Affairs) and Roxana Maracineanu (Sports).
>> To read: Covid-19: the 2021 Angoulême Comics Festival canceled
In his speech of March 31, Emmanuel Macron announced the reopening "with strict rules" from mid-May of terraces of bars and restaurants and certain places of culture closed since October 30.
The start of the school year is scheduled for April 26 face-to-face in schools and remote for one more week in colleges and high schools.
Linked to an improvement in the health situation, in particular thanks to vaccination, the reopening promises to be complex to implement with the maintenance of barrier gestures and protocols adapted to each type of activity.
With AFP
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