Failing to reopen for the public, we might as well reopen for the common good.
This is the proposal of the National Union of Discotheques and Leisure Places (SNDLL) which proposes to make available the 1,600 establishments in France and overseas to “
transform them into emergency vaccination centers for the entire population
”.
Read also: In the UK, nightclubs are in the dark
"
Stopped since March 13, 2020, nightclubs represent to date the business sector most affected by the economic consequences of Covid-19,
" said union president Patrick Malvaes in a press release on Monday.
After having "
mobilized its members
", the SNDLL "
invites all public authorities and all municipalities wishing to do so to get in touch now with (its) operators
", he continues.
They “
will obviously be delighted to contribute to the acceleration of the vaccination system, an essential health step for the normal resumption of activity in the country and the reopening of our establishments
”.
A request for a "national requisition"
According to the employers' union, "
no other business is so well suited to welcoming a public with distancing and safety rules
" and "
such a national requisition seems quite natural
", in order to "do
everything possible at the service of public health and beyond the resumption of activity in all establishments by summer 2021 at the latest
”.
Read also: Emmanuel Macron rules out a rapid reopening of nightclubs
Closed continuously for almost a year, the discos are among the cultural establishments hardest hit by the health crisis.
According to the SNDLL, as of January 20, 2021, "
more than 100 liquidations and 300 recovery procedures or voluntary closure decisions affect the sector
", while "
413 discos are in the process of disappearing definitively in all likelihood, or one in four discotheques
" .
For the SNDLL, there is no doubt that “
the reopening of nightclubs - like all businesses in France - is becoming an absolute necessity
”.
Sincerely hoped, this return to normal is clearly not an option at this stage.
The current state of the pandemic makes "
currently unthinkable
" an "
opening of establishments in degraded mode with protocol
", admits the discotheque union.