About 3,000 security personnel were deployed this morning around the French capital to meet the third weekend of protests against the health pass, mainly along the Champs Elysees to protect the avenue from incursions by occasional violent protesters.
Demonstrations against the document, which will have to be displayed in most public places in France from August 9, are taking place in several cities across the country, with four protests taking place in Paris alone.
With the rise in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, the French parliament last Sunday approved the requirement to have a pass to enter almost everywhere from next month, although polls show most French people support the decision and some opposition. The French were cruel.
A health passport is a document that shows that a person has been vaccinated and immunized against covid-19, or has a negative rapid test result or evidence of recent recovery from infection.
Tensions escalated in front of the famous Moulin Rouge nightclub in northern Paris in what appeared to be the largest demonstration, as police faced protesters and sporadic clashes.
As the protesters moved east, the police fired tear gas into the crowd, causing some confusion and causing several injuries.
Less fraught with tension, another demonstration took place in another area of Paris, led by extreme right-wing leader Marine Le Pen, which gathered hundreds of people towards the Ministry of Health.
Among those not present at the demonstrations today was François Asselineu, leader of the anti-European party Republican People’s Union and a fierce anti-health law activist, but he fell ill with COVID-19 this week.
The French authorities decided to create a health pass after an increase in the number of infections due to the delta variant of the disease, which is considered to be more infectious and dangerous.
On Friday night, 24,000 new infections were announced in 24 hours, a significant jump from the several thousand daily infections that were reported earlier this month.
More than 111,800 people have died from COVID-19 in France since the start of the pandemic.
The global death toll is at least 4,202,179 out of more than 196.5 million cases of the novel coronavirus, according to the latest report from Agence France-Presse, released on Friday.
