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Parisians find that you can go shopping... but must keep one metre apart

By Isabelle Martinetti - RFI
France  RFII. Martinetti
MAR 17, 2020 LISTEN
© RFI/I. Martinetti

In Pantin, in northeastern Paris, residents were getting ready for the new rules for shopping in France under the coronavirus lockdown. They seemed already prepared for the 1m-distance rule and, depending on the shop, 'letting one person in when one goes out'.

This morning at 11am, the 'Pantinois', as the people living in Pantin are called, were queing to access shops like the bakery, supermarket, pharmacy and the Tuesday market.

At the entrance of all shops, you could see signs warning customers to keep at least a one meter distance between people on the queues.

The one meter distance was also respected at the Tuesday market.

At the pharmacy, the 'letting one in if one was going out' policy has been in place since Monday, March 16th.

For the supermarket in the area, the guard told RFI he could let 10 people enter at a time as soon as 10 people left the shop.

From noon on 17 March, all these rules will be kept in place but the right to go shopping will be strictly limited.

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