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“Caviar, champagne, men’s clothing from the best chefs and masks prohibited”.
This is how they promoted the luxurious secret dinners in Paris, in the midst of the strict third quarantine imposed on France by the covid-19 pandemic.
The controversy was triggered by a hidden camera on the French television channel M6 in some exclusive and expensive speakeasies.
French Interior Minister Grald Darmanin has ordered a police investigation and said these dinners, which violate covid quarantine rules, are “totally unacceptable”.
France introduced new restrictions that went into effect nationwide last Saturday and will run for four weeks, in a bid to curb the increase in cases of the disease.
On Sunday, the number of covid patients in intensive care units rose to 5,341, putting 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 a nighttime curfew from 7:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m.
A hidden camera video from the journalistic investigation released by M6 last Friday shows an anonymous private dining room in an area of the so-called “smart quarter” of Paris, in which customers are told they can remove their masks.
The footage shows how a secret location is accessed with the blinds down in an apartment building.
Upon arriving at what appears to be a private restaurant, a waiter is heard saying to the reporter – who is posing as a client -: “People who come in don’t wear masks, once you walk in here, there is no has more covid. ”
#We want the names
According to journalistic research, the haute cuisine menu offered in Underground Dinners starts at 160 (around $ 188) and can cost up to 490 ($ 578) per person.
The video also shows what looks like a secret dinner at another fancy venue.
The voice of the report says guests paid 220 (US $ 259) per head as some of the attendees kiss each other on the cheek, ignoring all covid distancing rules.
“This week they are having dinner in two or three restaurants, the so-called underground restaurants, with a few ministers”, you hear a woman say.
The journalistic investigation video went viral and triggered the Twitter hashtag #OnVeutLesNoms, which means ‘we want names’.
“We don’t have two types of citizens”
Penalties for crimes committed during quarantine in France range from one year in prison to a fine of 15,000 ($ 17,700) for endangering a person’s life.
Each guest at underground dinners will be fined a potential 135 (US $ 159) for breaking curfew and a similar amount for not wearing a mask, the video also details.
Asked about the newspaper’s report, Minister Darmanin said that in the current crisis There was no one rule for the rich and privileged and one for everyone else.
“These people should be prosecuted and, I imagine, sentenced for having organized such parties,” he added.
In addition, the minister explained that the police intervene daily to dissolve the “big barbecues” in the popular districts “because people do not respect the quarantine”.
“The rules are the same for everyone. We don’t have two types of citizens: those who have the right to party and those who don’t. “, Insurance.
For his part, the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, also expressed his concern about what was revealed in the hidden room.
“All the ministers, without exception, play by the rules and none of them think they have some kind of special pass,” Le Marie said.
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