French shop owners pressure Macron to lighten virus lockdown

People in France may be able to go back to their favorite shops and attend religious services again next week, after a month of partial virus lockdown — but they’ll probably have to wait until next year to savor wine and cheese in a local cafe.

President Emmanuel Macron is expected to lay out new rules Tuesday in France’s virus strategy, after he imposed nationwide restrictions last month as virus infections, hospitalizations and deaths surged around Europe.

France’s infection rate per 100,000 people is now less than a third of what it was when November began, and the number of people in hospitals and intensive care has been trending downward for a week.

The situation remains tense, however, with hundreds of virus-related deaths per day. Doctors are warning the government not to relax restrictions too fast and repeat the mistakes France made as it emerged from a lockdown in the spring with no clear policy on masks and limited testing capacity.

“If we let go too quickly, the virus will circulate again too quickly,” Remi Salomon, head of the medical commission at the Paris hospital authority, told broadcaster France-Info on Tuesday.

Wearing legwarmers, cummerbunds or headgear made of surgical masks, owners of shops, restaurants and bars marched through Lyon on Monday to demand permission to reopen. Some threw red flares and one held a sign reading simply: “No Future.”

Under pressure from merchants who want to recoup some of this year’s losses during the Christmas shopping season, the government may allow non-essential stores to reopen on Dec. 1, according to government spokesman Gabriel Attal. Restaurants, however, aren’t expected to get the green light until January.

A big question is what Macron will announce about the end-of-year holidays....