Mayor of Nice to tourists: Stay Away

With the highest infection rate in France, the mayor of Nice in the south of France called for a weekend lockdown and to discourage tourists from coming to the famed city on the French Riviera.

“We need strong measures that go beyond the nationwide 6PM curfew, either tighter curfew, or a partial and time-specific lockdown. A weekend lockdown would make sense,” Mayor Christian Estrosi told franceinfo radio.

According to covidtracker.fr Nice has recorded 740 new cases a week per 100,000 residents.

“The weather is nice, everybody rushes to come here. A weekend lockdown would put a stop to that, without halting economic activity in the city,” said Estrosi.

Health Minister Olivier Veran said on Saturday the government would decide this weekend on whether to tighten measures.

The government had imposed curfews in some cities throughout the country and closed restaurants in the southern port city of Marseille before the second lockdown in November, but has tried not to impose regional measures, as businesses have protested.

Hotel owners, who have been forced to close due to Covid-19 measures, were angry earlier this month when Mayor Estrosi was suggesting greater city-wide measures to control the spread of the virus.

Nice's mayor said that the infection rates skyrocketed due to the increased flow of tourists for the Christmas holiday— international flights were at 20 a day and then jumped to 120 during the festive season. And this was all before virus testing was imposed at airports.

“We will be happy to receive lots of tourists this summer, once we win this battle, but it is better to have a period while we say 'do not come here, this is not the moment'. Protecting the people of Nice is my priority,” said Estrosi