Even if customers twist their noses a little sometimes, the sanitary pass has been adopted. Since the extension on Monday of the pass to cafes and restaurants, controls by the police are gradually being put in place. This Wednesday, a patrol surveyed the terraces of downtown Bordeaux, around rue Sainte-Catherine. Out of a hundred customers, only one did not have a pass. He was fined 135 euros.
A very large majority of customers presented their document in order and their identity papers without any difficulty. “The reception of customers is generally pleasant, even if we expect more difficulties during evening checks, in a more festive context and with customers who are sometimes more complex to apprehend” analyzes the division commissioner Eric Krust.
A test every 72 hours, “it starts to be painful”
“No problem, I find that normal”, for example this Parisian tourist tells us, seated at a terrace in rue Sainte-Catherine at lunchtime. Gauthier, who arrives from Dunkirk and spends a few weeks of vacation in the region with his family, is a little more recovered. “We are not vaccinated, and I think we should let people be free to be vaccinated or not. In the meantime, we take tests every 72 hours – compared to 48 hours previously – which allows us to continue to make outings or to still frequent the terraces, but it is starting to be very painful. We are in great pain, because the test is a blow in the left nostril, a blow in the right, but we are unfortunately forced to deal with it. “
A Bordeaux woman, vaccinated, who came to drink a coffee on the terrace with a friend, also finds “all this very restrictive. “” I am against the obligation to be vaccinated, and these controls are still adding to the burden. But you have to learn to live with it all, because I won’t restrict my outings either. Another tourist assures that the deadlines were too short to be vaccinated before going on vacation. “Our holidays were already scheduled for August when the announcement of the health pass was made, it was impossible for us to be fully vaccinated in such a short time. He is also doing tests while he waits.
“Less restrictive than what I thought”
On the restaurant side, out of the fifteen professionals checked in the center of Bordeaux on Wednesday, only one had not set up a pass control device. “The manager even claimed not to know the applicable law since Monday,” smiles the division commissioner Eric Krust. He has been warned for educational purposes and will be checked again in the coming days. “
He is the second manager in violation since the start of controls in Bordeaux on Monday. “For the moment, we are tolerant of the managers and we check that they have understood the system correctly,” continues Eric Krust. We have so far a very good surprise, the managers are playing along, and reading the QR code is quite easy. They just sometimes have a little question when a tourist presents them with a pass from their country, and not the European pass. We hope that this seriousness will persist, since for the moment we have to go until the end of November for the control of these passes. “
At the restaurant Chez Jean, Parliament Square, we assure that everything has been going well since Monday. “A client told me that her phone battery was dead,” smiles an establishment manager, “I told her that was not possible and I refused it. Otherwise we have not encountered any problem, all customers show up with a valid pass, and it’s less restrictive than I thought. “
“The system works”
“Controls start with a level of progressiveness,” explains the Deputy Prefect for Defense and Security Martin Guespereau. The first level concerns professionals who are asked to immediately set up the health pass control system, which is widely respected. The system works and there are no queues in front of restaurants, bars or museums. Then we gradually start the checks of individuals, knowing that the police carry out an identity check, which the professional does not do, to ensure that it is indeed the right person who presents his health pass. We will also demonstrate pedagogy, but the police verbalize the real recalcitrant. “
A controlled customer in possession of a pass that does not correspond to his identity incurs a fine of 135 euros, and 200 euros if he repeats the offense within fifteen days. An establishment manager risks a 24-hour closure for the first offense, then a seven-day closure for the second offense. The third offense is tort, and can go up to one year of imprisonment and 9,000 euros fine.