To escape lockdown, French flock to Monaco
Centre commercial Fontvielle
Monaco has become a Mecca for many workers and residents of nearby French towns, who now come to the Principality to escape lockdown restrictions
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France has been under national lockdown since 31 October. Only a handful of reasons can justify leaving one’s home, including going to work or medical appointments.
Meanwhile, in Monaco, the situation is rather different. Shops, restaurants, and museums are all open, even if the country has been put under curfew. The Government insists that a generalised lockdown is not currently being considered.
Under the current lockdown rules, French residents need a certification justifying the motive of their outing if they wish to leave their house. But many are the residents of nearby French towns that have found a way around the restriction.
Restaurants and hairdressers
Foreign workers and French residents from nearby towns have flocked to Monaco for a taste of freedom. For residents of Beausoleil and Cap-d’Ail, reaching Monaco is very easy. Both towns are essentially attached to Monaco.
According to a recent investigation by France 3, restaurants and hairdressers have most benefited from new-found French clients. “We’ve had a lot of new clients, a lot of them French,” Anne-Laure Breuillé, who manages a hairdresser’s salon in Monaco, told France 3.
On Wednesday 11 November, Monaco recorded 12 new cases of Covid-19, bringing the total number of cases to 524. 15 patients are currently hospitalised at the Princess Grace Hospital, 4 of them in ICU. 101 people are self-isolating, while the total number of recoveries has risen to 378.