“We believe that culture must be accessible to all and in complete safety.
"The 5 Caumartin cinema, in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, thought it had found a way to avoid the obligation of a health pass to its customers by deciding" to limit the gauge to 49 people "in two of its rooms.
Other cinemas wanted to use the same technique.
Before saying that the combination was prohibited, and that the establishments were exposed to a sanction, the General Directorate of Health finally specifies this Thursday evening that it is authorized.
The decree of July 19, 2021 published on Tuesday, which provides for the expansion of the health pass, lists the establishments where the health pass became compulsory from Wednesday: this is therefore the case for museums, cinemas, exhibitions, fairs, trade fairs. , sports establishments covered ... The same decree provides, however, that the health pass obligation applies "when they welcome a number of visitors, spectators, customers or passengers at least equal to 50 people".
Further on, the decree specifies: “The threshold of 50 people (…) is determined according to the number of people whose reception is planned by the operator of the establishment or place or by the organizer of the event. .
“For movie theater managers, this 50-person gauge was an ideal way to bypass the obligation of the health pass.
Is right ?
The DGS says no, then yes
"The 50-person gauge, retained as the threshold for applying the health pass in certain establishments open to the public, is determined according to the reception capacity of this establishment and not according to the actual occupancy of the premises", had first explained the DGS to France info.
So, if a cinema lowered its gauge to 49 seats for a theater that had 150, the sanitary pass was mandatory.
This was the rule set by the Directorate General of Health… before changing their mind.
"If they put on sale less than 50 places and therefore plan to accommodate less than 50 spectators, then the health pass does not apply", finally specified the Ministry of Health this Thursday evening.
From the moment when this room contains 50 seats or more, even if only ten seats are occupied during a session, the health pass is compulsory for the ten people in the room, he explains.
New rule therefore: a cinema that has 150 seats can waive the mandatory presentation of the health pass if it decides, from the start, to sell only 49 seats.
An establishment that fails to meet its health pass control obligations is exposed to a fine of 1,500 euros for a natural person and 7,500 euros for a legal person.
