Let the party start once more! Closed since December 10 for a month before this is extended, the nightclubs finally have a recovery date. It will be Wednesday February 16 as announced this Thursday evening Jean Castex. “We are happy and satisfied, reacts Thierry Fontaine, president of the night branch of the Union of trades and hotel industries (Umih). I hope this time, this reopening will be the right one. We want to work, it’s a profession of passion. »
“This is good news, adds Christian Jouny, general delegate of the National Syndicate of Nightclubs & Leisure Places. But the central question is to know under what conditions it will take place. “On July 9, 2021, following 16 months of closure, the nightclubs had reopened with the obligation of a sanitary pass coupled with an identity check and a gauge at 75%. This time, professionals should escape the famous “2 G +” at the entrance to their establishments, ie the vaccination pass coupled with an antigenic test.
“We took our troubles patiently”
This protocol was first presented to night professionals as conditions for reopening. “But we were heard by Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne. He came to see us on Monday, in Lyon, to discuss with us and listened to our arguments. We obtained this relief from him”, welcomes Thierry Fontaine from Umih. A meeting is scheduled for this Thursday evening from 8 p.m. between the Minister Delegate in charge of SMEs and representatives of the nightlife to give more details on the health protocol that will be in force.
“More or less strict conditions for reopening will undoubtedly result from the necessary support that the State will have to grant to our hard-hit businesses”, warns Christian Jouny, recalling that the nightclubs have remained closed for 16 to 18 months in a row in the first part of the pandemic before this new two-month bracket. “I am angry with the government for not having heard us sometimes, over the past two years, on subjects that we mastered perfectly, such as ventilation, specifies Thierry Fontaine. But we understand the need to manage the health situation well. We took our troubles patiently. There are only three and a half weeks to wait.
