On December 10, 2021, the nightclubs closed their doors again. This closure, initially scheduled for one month, has been extended for three weeks. To help the establishments, financial compensation is planned.
Prime Minister Jean Castex did not mention them during his press conference on December 27. However, nightclubs are also affected by the health restrictions put in place by the government to try to curb this fifth wave of the Covid-19 epidemic. These establishments closed their doors again on December 10, for a period of one month. But party and dance enthusiasts will still have to wait before hitting the slopes since nightclubs will remain closed for at least three additional weeks, from January 3, 2022. This is what Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne announced, Minister responsible for tourism and SMEs, Wednesday, December 29 during an intervention on France Inter.
“The discos will not reopen on January 6. They were closed at the beginning of December when the sanitary situation was much better than what we know today”, he justified. Before recalling that the incidence rate was currently 730 and that 180,000 cases had been identified on December 28. “I imagine the moral distress that can exist for the employees and these entrepreneurs because it is a world which wants to give happiness, to party but which, there, is not at the party and which clinks glasses”, then assured the minister.
New help to come
Already heavily impacted by the long closure between March 2020 and summer 2021, industry players are hoping for additional financial assistance from the government. Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne said that a reflection was underway to find the best means to support these establishments. “From December 20, we set up a system with what are called fixed costs, with partial activity …, he commented, on the radio station. It emerges from my consultations yesterday that the month of December accounting for 20% of the annual turnover, these compensations should perhaps be supplemented. This is what we are working on with the professionals. “
The Minister also wished to address his support to people working in nightclubs. He admits that “From the start, they were serious. They put in place protocols, they were the first to verify the identity of the holders of the health passes. That we do not forget”.