PARIS- French nightclubs will be allowed to re-open from July 9 onwards, said government minister Alain Griset, allowing the industry to operate again for the first time since it was shut during the France's COVID-19 lockdown in March 2020.
France eased its third nationwide lockdown - meant to rein in the coronavirus outbreak - last month with the reopening of terraces on May 19. Earlier in June, restaurants, bars and cafes were allowed to reopen for indoor service for the first time in seven months.
More than 100 nightclubs out of 1,600 in France have closed permanently due to the COVID pandemic crisis, according to hospitality trade union UMIH.
(Reporting by Elizabeth Pineau and Michel Rose; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta) ((sudip.kargupta@thomsonreuters.com; +33 1 49 49 53 84;))
