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(Updates with simplified rules, quotes)
PARIS, March 20 (Reuters) – Nearly a third of the French entered a month-long lockdown on Saturday, with many saying they were tired and confused by the latest set of restrictions aimed at containing the spread of the highly contagious coronavirus.
The government announced the new measures on Thursday after an increase in COVID-19 cases in Paris and parts of northern France.
The new restrictions are less severe than those in place during the spring and November 2020 lockdowns, raising concerns that they may not be effective.
“It’s exhausting, tiring, it’s long. I hope it will end soon enough, although I have questions about the effectiveness of the measures,” said Kasia Gluc, 57, a graphics editor. on the avenue des Champs Elysées in Paris.
The Home Office said overnight from Friday to Saturday that people can leave their homes as often as they like within a 30 km (19 mile) radius, provided they file a declaration.
Later on Saturday, the Castex office said the rules had been simplified and no paperwork was needed during the day within a 10 km radius, only proof of address.
“We need to have permission, but compared to previous lockouts, we are still much more free to go out. So are we locked up? Yes and no,” said Antonin Le Marechal, 21.
In good weather, many Parisians have come to the banks of the Seine for a walk, a bike ride, or to meet up with family or friends.
“As you can see, everyone is eating, taking off their mask,” said 20-year-old student Rachel Chea. “It doesn’t change anything for me.”
These measures have created frustration among owners of so-called non-essential stores being forced to close their doors.
Stores allowed to remain open include those selling food, books, flowers and chocolate as well as hairdressers and shoemakers, but not clothing, furniture and beauty salons, according to a list released Friday night.
Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, who said a total of 90,000 stores should close, defended the list of stores that could remain open, including those selling chocolate and flowers just two weeks before Easter.
“I am not saying at all that it is ideal, but each time it is done with a simple logic: to guarantee the health of the French while preserving as much as possible the economic activity and the businesses”, he declared. at France Inter radio.
The government, which has avoided using the word lockdown to describe the latest restrictions, says the measures are needed to relieve pressure on intensive care units that are on the verge of overflowing.
Large numbers of Parisians had left the city before the restrictions came into effect at midnight. (Report by Ardee Napolitano and Noemie Olivie, written by Sybille de La Hamaide, edited by Christina Fincher)
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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