Concessions Banned at Movie Theaters to Try to Stop COVID Spread in France

Now going into the third year of a global pandemic, a new variant of COVID-19 is causing renewed concern with health and public officials around the world. Take France as an example. Though the country has yet to announce a new round of lockdown measures, it is taking steps to try curbing the spread of the deadly virus. Monday evening, French Prime Minister  Jean Castex banned French cinemas from serving concessions.

No new capacity restrictions are included in the latest order from French officials, but concerts and other indoor venues will see some alterations. While venues may have upwards of 2,000 people inside in a single space, you must be able to seat them all—in other words, no "standing room only"-type events.

Both those types of concerts, and the concession ban, will run for at least the next three weeks. According to Castex, French officials are also weighing a vaccine mandate to allow access to "leisure venues." That means you'd need to be fully vaccinated to access theaters, concert venues, and virtually any other public events within the country. That measure has to be voted upon by the French Parliament.

Over 100,000 people in France alone tested positive for COVID-19 on Christmas Day, leading Castex to say the country's "fifth wave" of COVID was is "very tense" and "far from over." The official did confirm French officials will reassess the situation on January 5th, at which time a new curfew may be put into place.

"I know that it feels like a film without ending, but a year ago we started our vaccination campaign and now we are one of the best vaccinated and best protected people in the world," Castex said in a press conference (via Reuters) immediately after the changes were announced.

Cover photo by Georg Wendt/picture alliance via Getty Images