On Wednesday, France and Belgium announced they would begin easing their COVID-19 restrictions; the countries would do this by allowing cafes and restaurants to serve indoors, dropping overnight curfews, and more.
What We Know:
- The two nations’ leaders made the announcements, respectively. France’s Emmanuel Macron took to Twitter for his declaration. In his tweet, he emphasized the French citizens’ longing to return to normalcy while also advising people to continue following precautions. French people may now enjoy outdoor dining and stay out past 11 P.M. Additionally, Macron intends on removing the overnight curfew by June 30.
Nous y sommes !
S’asseoir à la table d’un restaurant.
S’évader le temps d’un spectacle.
Vibrer à l’unisson dans des gradins.
Retourner à la salle …Cette vie nous avait tant manqué !
Pour que cette reprise soit durable, continuons à respecter protocoles et gestes barrières.— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) June 9, 2021
- Belgium’s Prime Minister Alexander De Croo stated the country will now permit parties of up to four people to dine indoors. Indoor events can now function with no more than 200 people, or 75% capacity. Furthermore, their work-from-home mandate is still in effect, but employees may request to spend one day in the office. Employers may accept this request as long as larger offices maintain a daily capacity of 20% of workers.
- The vaccine rollout across Europe facilitated the newfound lenience. Across the continent, nations are encouraging their subjects to get vaccinated in an attempt to “strike a balance” between public health and reviving industries. Europe wants to renew tourism across the continent, as pandemic travel restrictions devastated the sector the most.
Parliament gives its final green light to the EU Digital Covid Certificate to facilitate travel within the EU and contribute to the economic recovery. Press release → https://t.co/Lx4eAAL4h0 pic.twitter.com/dKMyiwqYui
— European Parliament (@Europarl_EN) June 9, 2021
- To boost travel, the European Parliament voted on Wednesday to approve the Digital Covid Certificate. The new document will permit those who received the vaccine, tested negative, or recently recovered from COVID-19 to travel across the European Union (EU) countries.
Currently, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Lithuania, Poland, and Spain already issued millions of certificates to EU residents.
