Agriculture Minister Julien Denormandie said the sale of sapins de Noël was to be limited to outdoors, to allow social distancing.
"Many places where Christmas trees can be sold are already open, such as supermarkets and DIY stores," he said. "But for florists, outside sales can also be organised."
📍A la rencontre de producteurs de sapins dans la Nièvre
— Julien Denormandie (@J_Denormandie) November 17, 2020
Chaque année, 4.5 millions de sapins sont produits en France par des passionnés qui contribuent à la valorisation de nos territoires. Et ils sont à pied d’œuvre pour que ces sapins puissent être vendus dès vendredi. pic.twitter.com/te3WLjpYuP
With the holiday season just around the corner, shop owners are keen on returning to business as usual.
The rate of new coronavirus infections has been falling since the second nationwide lockdown began on 30 October, sparking calls from business groups to let shops open as early as 27 November for the "Black Friday" mega sales that kick off the holiday shopping season.
The number of new daily infections on Wednesday came in at 28,383, with the average infection rate nearly halving over the past fortnight.
President Emmanuel Macron has said the number of daily cases must fall below 5,000 per day before the government could start significantly easing the latest restrictions.
(with AFP)
