PARIS--France held a scaled-down Bastille Day celebration on Tuesday, with none of the usual tanks and troops parading down Paris's Champs Elysees avenue, in a concession to the COVID-19 epidemic still stalking Europe.
Instead, President Emmanuel Macron, standing in the back of a military jeep, reviewed ranks of socially distanced troops in the Place de la Concorde after a flypast by military aircraft.
"I wish, with all the French, with the armies themselves, to pay a vibrant tribute to health workers and those who, in all sectors, have enabled public, social and economic life to continue," Macron said in message released ahead of the parade. "The dedication, tenacity, courage, solidarity that emerged strongly everywhere, in our cities as in our countryside, command admiration."
Participants offered lengthy applause for health workers, causing some to shed tears.
It is the first time since 1980 that the annual parade has not been held along the Champs Elysees. Spectators on Tuesday were not allowed near Place de la Concorde to prevent the spread of a disease that has killed at least 30,000 in France. Dignitaries in the reviewing stands, including World Health Organisation head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, were seated at a distance from each other.
Junior Economy Minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher had a moment of panic when she realised she had forgotten her mask. She seen was seen rushing back to her car to find it before officials handed her a spare.
Bastille Day, France's national day, dates back to the 1789 revolution, when citizens stormed the Bastille fortress, a prison that had become a symbol of the harsh rule of the monarchy.
Traditionally, the holiday is rounded off with a fireworks display, with thousands gathering around the Eiffel Tower to watch. The fireworks went ahead this year, but the area around the tower was closed to the public.
France will make it compulsory for people to wear masks in shops and other enclosed public spaces from next month to stop a resurgence of the COVID-19 outbreak, President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday. The virus, which killed more than 30,000 people in France, has been on the decline, but Macron said it was spreading again in some places as France opens up beaches, bars and restaurants after a two-month lockdown.
"We have some signs that it's coming back a bit," Macron said in an interview with French broadcasters. "Faced with that, we must anticipate and prepare.
"I ask fellow citizens to wear masks as much as possible when they are outside, and especially so when they are in an enclosed space," Macron said.
"We will put ourselves in a position where we could, for example, make it completely mandatory from Aug. 1," he added.
Aides later said Macron had decided on Aug. 1 "to give everyone time to organise themselves, for example the stores, and thus allow a smooth transition."
Up to now, France has required people to wear face coverings on public transport and in public spaces where social distancing is not possible, but has not mandated the wearing of masks in shops.
