With restrictions lifting in France, Macron grabs a coffee at a cafe.
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Version 0 of 1. President Emmanuel Macron of France enjoyed an early-morning coffee with his prime minister at a cafe in Paris on Wednesday to celebrate the partial lifting of lockdown restrictions around the country. French television showed Mr. Macron and the prime minister, Jean Castex, in an animated conversation as they sipped espressos on the narrow terrace of a café near the presidential palace, with bodyguards nearby. Mr. Macron, interviewed by reporters through the lattice woodwork that surrounded the terrace, said it was “a little moment of recovered freedom.” Mr. Macron noted that France’s Covid figures were headed in the right direction, with continued decreases in new daily cases, hospitalizations and deaths. “We have to remain cautious and to collectively succeed in keeping the epidemic under control,” Mr. Macron said before walking back to the Élysée Palace. The impromptu sit-down was intended to celebrate the first time since October that the French have been able to grab a drink on the terraces of cafes and restaurants, which have reopened at half capacity and with no more than six people per table. Nonessential businesses were permitted to reopen on Wednesdays, as were movie theaters and museums, with limits on their capacity. The nighttime curfew, enforced since last fall, was also pushed back to 9 p.m. from 7 p.m. In other developments from around the globe: The United Arab Emirates said on Tuesday that it would offer a booster shot of the Sinopharm vaccine at least six months after the initial two doses, Reuters reported. Bahrain also said it would offer a third dose of the vaccine, at least six months after the second shot, starting with more vulnerable groups. |