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HEALTH

Macron orders nighttime curfew for parts of France hardest hit by Covid-19

French president Emmanuel Macron announced on Wednesday a nighttime curfew would be imposed in the greater Paris region as well as in eight other cities around France hard-hit by the second wave of Covid-19 infections.

Published: 14 October 2020 20:57 CEST
Macron orders nighttime curfew for parts of France hardest hit by Covid-19
French President Emmanuel Macron making his live TV broadcast. Photo: AFP

As virus numbers continue to rise in France, the president announced that nine cities and surrounding areas will be subject for a curfew from 9pm to 6am for at least four weeks.

Macron said the government would try to extend the curfew until December 1st.

The curfew order begins at midnight on Friday night into Saturday morning and affects the greater Paris region of Île-de-France as well as the metropolitan areas of Grenoble, Lille, Lyon, Aix-Marseille, Rouen, Saint-Etienne, Montpellier and Toulouse.

All these cities as well as Paris and its surrounding suburbs have been on “maximum alert” due to the rising number of coronavirus cases and the subsequent pressure on hospitals and intensive care units.

MAP Which parts of France are on the highest Covid-19 alert levels?

Macron called the curfew an “appropriate” measure, adding that the government did want to re-impose a second complete lockdown on the country, which he said was “disproportionate”.

'We won't be partying with friends'

“We have to act. We need to put a brake on the spread of the virus,” Macron said, adding the measure would stop people visiting restaurants and private homes late at night.

Anyone caught breaching the curfew in the nine areas risked a fine of €135, Macron said, and for repeat offenders this could rise to €1,500.

“We won't be leaving the restaurant after 9pm,” Macron said. “We won't be partying with friends because we know that that's where the infection risk is greatest.”

Within curfew areas public transport will continue to run as normal to allow people to go to and from work.

“We must break the spread of the virus to protect others, to protect the elderly and the most vulnerable and to protect the health service and health workers,” the president said. 

He accepted that restaurants would be forced to close but said the government would ensure they and the staff received financial aid to help them through the crisis.

Macron's appearance followed the announcement by the government that the “state of health emergency” would be reintroduced from Saturday.

The official designation allows the government to impose far-reaching restrictions without the need to go through parliament. The country was in a “state of health emergency” from March, but it was allowed to lapse in July because of the improving health situation.

READ ALSO What does a State of Health Emergency mean in France?

It was the first time the president had spoken at such length about the health situation in the county since July 14th, prompted by weeks of spiking Covid-19 rates that for the first time since March has threatened to overwhelm hospitals in hotspots such as Paris and Marseille.

“It's inevitable,” Hirsch said, and called for stricter measures to reverse the trend.

 
Macron said new daily coronavirus cases must be brought down to “3,000 or 5,000”, from current levels, which have reached up to almost 27,000. 
 
But he also ruled out several more strict measures, at least for the moment.
 
He said reintroducing a full lockdown would be “disproportionate” while insisting that France “has not lost control” of the situation.
 
He also ruled out introducing any kind of travel ban within France or restrictions on moving between regions. The French “Toussaint” (All Saints) autumn school holiday begins on Saturday, and Macron said that when it came to holidays or visiting family, people should use common sense and stick to health protocols.
 
He added that he did not want to “infantalise” the French people.
 
'No more than six at the table'
 
The president also once again urged the French public to reduce the number of people they have contact with and for the first time suggested that people should not exceed groups of six in private settings such as homes.
 
Macron called it a “rule of six”, echoing the law in place in the UK, but rather than being a law Macron's announcing was simply a firm recommendation to the public, all around France, not just in those areas on maximum alert.
 

 
 
He told interviewers: “When we invite friends to the house we shouldn't be more than six round the table” but stopped short of introducing laws on socialising or introducing “social bubbles”.
 
On the subject of working from home, he reiterated that it was recommended, but did not bring in rules forcing either businesses or employees to follow the guidelines, pointing out that for some people – those living in small homes with young children for example – working from home is very difficult.
 
“We are going to have to deal with this virus until at least the summer of 2021,” Macron said, saying “all scientists” were in agreement on that point.
 
 
 
 

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SCHOOLS

Are packed lunches really banned in French schools?

School children in France are entitled to a lunchtime meal of three, or even four courses – but what if you prefer to provide meals yourself? 

Published: 22 May 2024 12:24 CEST
Are packed lunches really banned in French schools?

French school meals are, famously, pretty good – children get a three or even four-course meal of properly prepared dishes and the menu (including cheese course) is usually published in the local town newsletter so everyone can see the types of meals being served.

The concept of a proper meal at lunchtime is an important one. “The diet of a school-age child is essential for their growth, mental development and learning abilities,” the French Education Ministry says in a preamble about school meals on its website. “It must be balanced, varied and distributed throughout the day: for example 20 percent of total energy in the morning, 40 percent at midday, 10 percent at four o’clock and 30 percent in the evening.”

And it’s not all about nutrition, the social aspect of sitting together and eating a meal is also important – the ministry continues: “Mealtime is an opportunity for students to relax and communicate. It should also be a time for discovery and enjoyment.”

All schools provide meals in a canteen and most pupils take up the opportunity – however it’s also possible for pupils to go home at lunchtime so that they can eat lunch with their parents.

The idea of taking in a packed lunch (panier-repas) is much less common in France – but is it actually banned?

The rules on lunch

At écoles (up to age 11), the local authority or établissement public de coopération intercommunale (EPCI) is responsible for providing quality school meals. This generally involves meals being provided via a central kitchen, and then delivered to the school’s kitchen, where it can be kept warm, or reheated as necessary.

The system is slightly different in collèges and lycées (attended by children aged 11 and up). In those establishments, catering falls into the purview of the wider département or region – and is routinely managed directly by individual establishments, which will have catering staff on site to prepare meals. Often, meal services are outsourced to private businesses, which operate the kitchens.

There are various rules and regulations in place regarding what food is offered, and how long a child has to eat – which is, in part, why the school lunch period is so long. Children must be allowed a 30-minute period to eat their meal, from the moment they sit down with it at the table. 

Then, they’re given time to play and relax before afternoon classes start.

READ ALSO What you need to know if your child is starting school in France

At a minimum lunch must include a main course with a side dish, a dairy-based product, as well as a starter and/or a dessert. Meals must also, the government says, be composed of 50 percent sustainable quality products (including 20 percent organic).

Some local authorities go further and serve only or mostly food that is organic, locally sourced or both.

Water and bread must be freely available, but salt and condiments can only be added in preparation – no sauce bottles or salt and pepper on the tables. 

Daily menus are generally available to view on school websites and many town newspapers or newsletters also publish them.

Parents pay a fee for the school lunch, which is calculated according to income and can be free in the case of low-income families.

Packed lunch

But what if your child doesn’t like the school lunches and you don’t have time to pick them up, cook a full lunch and take them back in the afternoon everyday? The obvious solution would seem to be to send them in with a packed lunch, as is common in the UK and USA.

In theory this is possible, but only in certain circumstances and with very strict rules and caveats. 

The Ministry, in a written response to a Senator’s question in 2019, said: “The use of packed lunches [home-supplied meals] by primary school students can provide an alternative to school meals. This method of catering is authorised in particular for children with a medically established food allergy or intolerance, requiring an adapted diet.”

READ ALSO How to enrol a non-French speaking child in school in France

It added: “the preparation and use of packed lunches in schools must follow certain rules. First of all, it is important to respect the cold chain”.

The cold chain is a term applied to food handling and distribution – it’s usually used by food-preparation businesses, but in the context of a packed lunch it means that food prepared at home must be kept in appropriately cool conditions until it is ready to eat. It would be the responsibility of parents to ensure that the food is delivered to school in containers appropriate for the job (ie an insulated cool bag).

Once at the school, it is up to whoever manages the kitchen to ensure that food is properly reheated. This becomes the sticking point at which many parents’ requests to send their children to school with a packed lunch, rather than go to the canteen, or eat back at home, are refused.

The reheating concern suggests that schools are also expecting parents to prepare a proper meal – rather than just throwing some sandwiches and a cereal bar into a bag.

Unless there’s a genuine and proven health reason for your child to eat a home-prepared meal, most parents will probably find the school won’t budge on this – even in cases of a strike by kitchen staff or lunch monitors.

READ ALSO Just how much do private schools in France cost?

The Ministry’s written response explains: “[A]s this is an optional public service, the municipality can justify its refusal to admit the children concerned by objective material and financial constraints, such as the need to equip itself with additional refrigerators, or for additional supervisory staff to supervise them during lunch.”

As well as the practicalities, for some schools this is an equality issue – because of the varied fee structure for school lunches what happens in effect is that richer parents are subsidising a good quality lunchtime meal for poorer students in the class; if everyone brought in a packed lunch and therefore stopped paying the fee, the lower-income kids would miss out. 

What about allergies or other health issues?

Children with allergies or other health issues that require a particular diet must be accommodated. An individual meal plan – known as a projet d’accueil individualisé (PAI) can be set up. More details (in French) are available here, on the government’s website.

It also becomes easier for parents to provide home-produced meals in such instances. As ever, it is up to the parents to ensure any meals are appropriately packaged and transported to school.

Not all schools

Some individual schools in France do permit pupils to bring in meals from home. They must be taken to school in an appropriate cold-storage container, and they will be stored in the kitchen area until they are needed, when meals will – if necessary – be reheated.

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