France: casinos to remain closed until late January

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rench Prime Minister Jean Castex announced last week that the reopening of casinos, among other businesses, has been postponed until at least the end of January.

After hoping they would be able to reopen on December 15, then on January 7, casinos have to wait until the end of January to know if they will be allowed to reopen in early February 2021, Sortiraparis.com reports.

“Reopening conditions are not met”, the PM said. To avoid a third wave that France feels is coming, the government wishes to minimize flows and gatherings of people. “The health situation could be worse in January” in the event of opening on December 15. Jean Castex and his ministers have decided to postpone the reopening of public facilities to the first week of January 2021.

But since conditions are still not met as of the beginning of the year, the French PM announced that “all activities, facilities and premises closed will remain so until the end of the month. Museums, movie theaters, show venues, gyms and leisure centers are not to see measures eased off in the coming weeks”. He added: “During this period of closure and limited work, the government will keep on financially support all sectors and players directly affected by our measures.”