Coronavirus in France: luxury secret dinners in Paris in which restrictions are ignored to stem the pandemic

“Caviar, champagne, menus from the best chefs and masks are prohibited “. This is how they promoted luxury secret dinners in Paris, in the middle of the third strict quarantine inflicted on France for the pandemic of Covid19.

The controversy was triggered by a hidden camera of the French television channel M6 at about exclusive and expensive speakeasies.

French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin ordered a police investigation and said that such dinners, violate the Covid quarantine rules, they are “totally unacceptable”.

France introduced new restrictions which took effect nationally last Saturday and will continue for four weeks, with the aim of curbing an increase in cases of disease.

On Sunday, the number of Covid patients in the intensive care units increased to 5341, which puts the French hospitals on alert.

All non-essential schools and businesses are closed, and restaurants and cafes have not been able to serve customers on site for five months.

There is also night curfew from 7:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m.

A hidden camera video from the journalistic investigation published by M6 last Friday shows an anonymous private dining room, in a district of the so-called “intelligent district” of Paris, in which customers are informed that they can remove their masks.

The footage shows how a secret location is accessed with the blinds down in an apartment building.

By reaching what appears to be a private restaurant we hear a waiter say to the journalist – who pretends to be a client -: “People who come in don’t wear masks, once you walk in here there is no more Covid.”

#We want the names

According to the journalistic investigation, the haute cuisine menu offered in the underground dinners It starts at 160 € (around 188 USD) and can cost up to 490 € (578 USD) per person.

The video also shows what it looks like to be a secret dinner In another site luxurious.

The voice of the report says guests paid € 220 (US $ 259) per head while watching some of the attendees kissing each other on the cheek, ignoring everything the rules of distancing of Covid.

“This week, I had dinner in two or three restaurants, the so-called underground restaurants, with a few ministers,” you hear a woman say.

Video of the journalistic investigation went viral and sparked the hashtag Twitter #OnVeutLesNoms, which means “we want names”.

“We don’t have two types of citizens”

Penalties for crimes committed during quarantine in France They range from one year in prison to a fine of € 15,000 (US $ 17,700) for endangering someone’s life.

Each guest at underground dinners would face a potential fine of € 135 (US $ 159) for violating the curfew and a similar amount for not wearing a mask, also details the video.

When consulted by the journalistic report, Minister Darmanin said that in the current crisis there is no one rule for the rich and privileged, and one for all the others.

“These people should be prosecuted and, I imagine, sentenced for having organized such parties,” he added.

In addition, the minister explained that the police intervened daily to dissolve the “big barbecues” in the popular districts “because people do not respect quarantine ”.

“The rules are the same for everyone. We do not have two types of citizens: those who have the right to party and those who do not “, insured.

For his part, the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, also expressed his concern about what was revealed in the hidden camera.

“All the ministers, without exception, play by the rules and none of them think they have any special pass,” said Le Marie.

BBC Mundo