Eiffel Tower reopens after three-month closure
Tourists and Parisians may again admire the watch of the French capital from the Eiffel Tower after it reopened today following a three-month closure as a result of Covid-19 coronavirus - but only if they have the stairs.
People to the city's most well-known monument won't be in a position to have the lifts until July 1, to make sure a safe range between persons to limit an infection risk.
The very the surface of the iconic monument will stay off limits to the general public for now.
The 10-tonne metal landmark will emerge from its longest closure since World War II with time for the summertime season, but with small visitor numbers initially, and mandatory face masks for all over the age of 11, said the Eiffel Tower website.
The first visitors will be allowed in from 10 (0800 GMT), a symbolic instant as France begins to tentatively start to tourism following the virus shutdown.
Eager tourists have been able to pick up their tickets since June 18, when the web ticket office opened.
"To make certain that ascending and descending visitors do not meet up with in the stairs, ascent will take place from the East pillar and descent by the West pillar," said the operator, with a restricted number of visitors per floor at the same time.
The top level will stay closed for the present time, "since the lifts taking visitors from second to top floor are small. It could reopen through the summer."
The statement said ground markings will be placed in place to ensure people keep their distance from one another, with "daily cleaning and disinfection of public spaces at the tower."
The monument, completed in 1889, receives about seven million visitors every year, around three-quarters of these from abroad, according to the tower website.
France is among the world's most visited countries and its own tourism industry features taken a hard hit under a good lockdown to prevent the Covid-19 pandemic, with hotels, eating places, museums, and theatres closed for 90 days.
These included a number of the French capital's most well-known landmarks like the Louvre museum, because of reopen on July 6, and the Palace of Versailles, which reopened previous this month.
France lifted restrictions in European borders by June 15, and the tourism industry expectations that foreign visitors will start pouring in again due to the summer season begins. - AFP
