(Credit: Opéra de Paris official website) va

France has postponed the reopening of cultural venues, including theaters, concert halls and opera houses, said French Prime Minister Jean Castex.

The reopening of cultural venues planned for Dec. 15, 2020 has been postponed for three weeks, the Prime Minister announced on Thursday, Dec 10. The curfew, which will be reinstated on Dec. 15, will also apply on Dec. 31, but not on Christmas Eve.

“As new 14,000 COVID-19 cases were detected as of yesterday, it is still well above 5,000 cases needed to reopen the cultural venues,” said French Health Minister Olivier Véran.

French President Emmanuel Macron imposed a nationwide lockdown at the end of October, after the country failed to control the rapid spread of new COVID-19 cases.