Macron crisis: Protesters revolt against second lockdown 'This is a death foretold'
HOSPITALITY bosses in Marseille have staged a furious protest against Emmanuel Macron's strict lockdown rules which will force bars and restaurants in the French coastal city to close.
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Just months after they were given the green light to reopen the venues will this weekend have to shut under the government’s sweeping measures designed to curb the spread of coronavirus. Demonstrators revolted against what they see as Mr Macron’s second economic lockdown by gathering in front of the city’s commercial court on Friday morning.
Cedric Angelone, co-President of the Event Activities Union, was among the high-profile speakers to attend the rally.
He fumed: "September was a hope, this is like a cold shower. This is a death foretold.”
The gathering was organised by the Hotel Industry Union and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Bernard Marty, President of the Union of Bouches-du-Rhône, the first employers' union of cafes, hotels, restaurants, also hit out at the latest rules.
He said: "I do not want our establishments to be closed.
“I want the state to exercise the controls it is supposed to, and only close those establishments that do not comply with health measures.
"Stop the contradictory decisions, stop these behaviours that make us no longer understand anything!”
Issuing a chilling warning to President Macron, Mr Marty said “Marseille will experience insurrectionary moments” as the city grapples with a new raft of restrictions.
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Ahead of Saturday’s closure, some restaurateurs were already suggesting that they would not respect the ban on trading.
Protesters chanted “we remain open!” and “we want to work!” as they prepared for the arrival of Health Minister Olivier Veran in the city.
The protest took place on the same day that COVID cases in France reached a grim milestone.
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Infections soared past the half-million mark after authorities recorded a near-record daily jump.
On Friday, the total number stood at 513,034, health ministry data showed.
The figure took France into a group of just 11 countries with more than half a million cases. The United States has the most with 7 million.
In the past two weeks, France has recorded nearly 150,000 new COVID 9 cases, more than the 132,000 recorded during the two-month lockdown in the spring.
It registered 15,797 new confirmed cases on Friday, just shy of a daily record of 16,096 set a day earlier.
The number of people who have died from the infection jumped by 150 on Friday - triple the daily levels of the past week - to 31,661.
The number of people in hospital with the infection also continued its steady ascent of the past month.
They rose by 97 to 6,128, with the number of people in intensive care up by 50 to 1,098.
Both hospital numbers are still well below their highs of more than 32,000 and 7,100 respectively set during the peak of the crisis in April.
Additional reporting by Maria Ortega.