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A protester in Paris kicks off a tear gas grenade
Photo: GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT / AFP
The protest against the expansion of the health passport and the compulsory vaccination for certain professional groups in France has increased significantly.
According to the Interior Ministry, more than 200,000 people took to the streets across the country on Saturday to demonstrate against the stricter regulations.
On the last two weekends, before the parliamentary decision on the measures, more than 100,000 people took to the streets.
In total, demonstrations took place in more than 150 cities on Saturday - including Toulon, Montpellier, Bordeaux, Marseille and Nice.
According to the Interior Ministry, more than 14,000 people gathered in Paris.
According to the authorities in the capital Paris, three police officers were injured.
According to the Interior Ministry, 19 activists were arrested.
The demonstrators in Paris, including many "yellow vests", accused the government of, among other things, an "attack on freedom" on posters.
More than 3,000 police officers were on duty, including on the Champs-Élysées, whose main entrances were cordoned off.
The leader of the right-wing extremist party Rassemblement National (formerly: Front National), Marine Le Pen, called on the government on Twitter to take the protests seriously.
There is still time to back down.
The leading left-wing politician Jean-Luc Mélenchon also wrote that the protests had to be respected and understood.
The French parliament passed the law to tighten the corona rules last Sunday after a long struggle.
It comes into force on August 9 and provides for a corona vaccination for health and care workers as well as firefighters and other rescue workers.
Contrary to what the government originally wanted, vaccination refusals in these professions are not threatened with dismissal, but only with a suspension of their salary.
It was also decided to expand the health passport, which provides information about a vaccination or a negative test.
For the first time, a test obligation for unvaccinated people in restaurants and long-distance trains as well as trade fairs and fairs is to take effect.
In cinemas, theaters or museums, a vaccination, a survived infection or a negative corona test must be proven since July 21.
The opposition has turned to the Constitutional Council to prevent the law.
The government also submitted the law to the council for review.
The Constitutional Council will announce its decision on August 5th - just a few days before the planned entry into force.
78 percent of all corona victims without vaccination
In France, more than half of the people are fully vaccinated.
According to official statistics published on Friday, an overwhelming proportion of Covid-19 patients treated in French hospitals are not vaccinated: around 85 percent of Covid-19 patients in normal and intensive care units do not have a vaccination against the coronavirus .
In addition, 78 percent of all deaths after a corona infection are not vaccinated.
Most recently, the number of new infections per 100,000 people nationwide was around 214 within a week. In some areas, for example on the border with Spain or in northern Corsica, even stricter rules now apply.
In some cases, shops and restaurants have to close earlier and people also have to wear masks outdoors.
sol / afp / dpa / reuters
