As the spread of the Delta variant makes people fear a fourth coronavirus epidemic wave is to hit the country very soon, extra measures have been made on Monday July 12, 2021. Emmanuel Macron announces the health pass is extended - starting from early August - to more public venues. Among them: bars, cafés and restaurants, shopping malls, as well as transit such as trains and planes. Discover the detailed list.
A few weeks earlier, the French were enjoying normal life again, hoping they were on the way to exit the health crisis for real. But the coronavirus epidemic is resurging. This time, the spread of the Delta variant is about to change things. Its spread is so swift it is now dominating in France: and even about to take over all the other variants reported in the country so far.
The situation can change in no time and transform this epidemic resurgence into a fourth wave. It could even be as big as the previous ones. Faced with such a threat, hopes are focused on vaccination. But to do so, the vaccinal campaign must escalate: the Scientific Committee has reviewed the herd immunity threshold upwards announcing that 90% to 95% of people must be vaccinated or have been contaminated to be able to take over the epidemic.
The government gathered this Monday July 12, 2021 for a health defense council, followed by statements announced during Emmanuel Macron’s address latter that day, at 8 p.m. President Macron then announced the Health Pass is extended to many public places over the summer. Anyone over 12 years of age must present the pass to access places listed below.
So far, it has been mostly applied to major events, to go to nightclubs, or take the plane, or go to venues welcoming over 1,000 people like stadiums or festivals.
In a decree issued this July 20, 2021 in Journal Officiel, discover the detailed list of places now subject to the health pass.
Starting from July 21, the health pass is required to access venues welcoming over 50 people:
- Festivals
- Theme parks
- Weddings
- Hearing, conference, screening, meeting rooms, show venues, or multipurpose rooms
- Big tops, tents and structures
- Game rooms and dance rooms
- Commercial-purpose establishments for exhibitions, fairs, or temporary shows
- Open-air establishments
- Covered sporting establishments
- Places of worship for events named article 47 V
- Museums and venues dedicated to house cultural temporary exhibitions, excluding people accessing establishments for professional or research motives
- Libraries and documentation centers excluding on one hand university and specialized libraries, and excluding for cultural exhibitions or events they house, the Bibliothèque Nationale de France and the Bibliothèque Publique d'Information, and on the other hand, people accessing these places for professional or research motives
- Cultural, sporting, educative or festive events held in the public place, or a place open to the public likely to give way to access control
- Boats and ships
- Funfairs including over 30 stands or rides
From early August, its use is extended to the following venues:
- Restaurants
- Bars
- Cafés
- Trains
- Planes
- Retirement houses
- Hospitals
- Medico-welfare establishments
- Indoor and outdoor gyms
- Indoor and outdoor swimming pools
- Shopping malls covering more than 20,000sqm
Moreover, in their release issued this August 5, the Constitutional Council says the health pass becomes compulsory in August in the following places:
- Leisure entertainments
- Trade food activities or bars, excluding institutional catering, takeout, professional road and train food service
- Fairs, seminars, and business meetings
- Excluding in case of an emergency, in health, social, and medico-welfare services and establishments for people accompanying or visiting people staying in these services and establishments, and those here for scheduled therapies
- Long-haul journey in interregional public transit in one of the territories mentioned in the 1st paragraph of this article, excluding emergency hindering the delivery of the required certificate
- Department stores and shopping malls, beyond the threshold set by decree, and under conditions guaranteeing the access of people to first-necessity goods and services, and if need be, to means of transport as well
At the same time, it could be also about charging “comfort” PCR and antigenic tests – that have been free of charge until then. Therefore, a non-vaccinee wishing to get to a place subject to the health pass will have to pay for the test. For the record, allow about €50 for a PCR test and €30 for an antigenic test.
Yet, there is good news: according to another decree issued in Journal Officiel, facemask-wearing will no longer be compulsory from July 21 in places subject to the health pass. Yet, prefects or organizers can locally decide to make facemask-wearing compulsory again.
