Paris again banned public drinking this weekend in response to the record-breaking heatwave engulfing parts of Europe. First responders and hospitals are already fighting a weather-induced influx of patients, Paris police chief Patrice Faure says, and the drinking ban is a move to prevent further hospitalizations, according to The New York Times.
The ban on drinking takeaway alcohol in public began at noon Central Europe Time today and will end at 7 a.m. tomorrow morning. It will be in place for the same timeframe from Saturday to Sunday. A separate prohibition on the sale or purchase of takeaway alcohol will also be in place from 6 p.m. Friday to 7 a.m. Saturday, with the ban in effect during the same hours from Saturday into Sunday. Drinking or selling alcohol at bars and restaurants will continue as normal. Paris’s ban on drinking comes as France gears up to face Norway in the World Cup today.
The interdiction is the second time in the past week that the French Government mandated a hold on publicly consuming alcohol in response to the sweltering heat. Last weekend, the country forbade drinking at Fête de la Musique, a multi-location music festival that draws millions to streets across the country each summer. Even so, the post-festival cleanup found evidence of empty beer cans and wine bottles.
Consuming alcohol isn’t the only leisure put on hold because of the heatwave. Faure suspended sporting events and urged organizers of Paris Pride, the city’s LGBTQ+ celebration march held each June, to hold off for now. The parade has been postponed to September.
On Wednesday and Thursday, Paris hospitals recorded four times more cardiac arrests than typical, according to the country’s health minister Stéphanie Rist. Faure says drinking alcohol under intense sunlight can cause “devastating effects,” such as heat exhaustion, and that violators of the ban will not be detained but may face fines. Temperatures are slated to peak Monday, and Faure declined to forecast how long the public drinking ban would be in place.
