The Latest: France digests news of restaurant health passes

PARIS — Enforcing France’s new virus pass could prove a logistical challenge for restaurants and other venues, but managers and diners hope it helps avoid another dreaded lockdown.

At the helm of La Brigade, a pocket-sized steak house in Paris’ hip Oberkampf district, Noémi Arevalo can’t imagine having to struggle through another weeks-long closure.

“We prefer having to work with rules and be stricter with our customers than having to close and not being able to work,” she told the Associated Press from behind her counter.

France’s parliament approved a law early Monday requiring special virus passes for all restaurants and domestic travel, and mandating vaccinations for health workers. To get the pass, people must be fully vaccinated, have a negative virus test or prove they recently recovered from COVID-19.

The government’s measures have prompted protests and political tensions. President Emmanuel Macron and his government say they’re needed to protect vulnerable populations and hospitals as infections rebound.

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MORE ON THE PANDEMIC:

— Some French health workers resent, resist mandatory vaccines

— Pandemic leaves Indians mired in massive medical debts

— What happens when your Olympics COVID test gets taken 39 minutes early?

— Malaysian doctors walk off job in government hospitals

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— Find more AP coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic and https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine

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HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:

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