France will start easing its strict coronavirus restrictions this weekend so that by Christmas, shops, theaters and cinemas will reopen and people will be able to spend the holiday with their families, President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday.

In a televised address to the nation, Macron said the worst of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in France was over, but restaurants, cafes and bars would have to stay shut until January 20 to avoid triggering a third wave.

France registered over 9,000 cases on Tuesday, which is much less than the peaked 54,440 on November 7 in the latest second wave.

On Saturday, shops will reopen but people will still need a document to venture out. They will now be allowed to exercise for three hours instead of one, and within a 20-kilometer (12-1/2-mile) radius of their homes, versus the 1 km (two-thirds of a mile) allowed now.

Gradual reopening

Most of the lockdown restrictions would be eased from December 15 for the end-of-year festive period, with general travel restrictions lifted, as long as new infections were at 5,000 a day or less, said Mr. Macron, adding that a curfew would be imposed from 9 p.m.

As for the ski resorts, the French president said they may have to remain closed until next year, because ski resorts had something to do with numerous outbreaks of COVID-19 cases in Europe in the early days of the pandemic.

France will be ready to start a vaccination campaign against COVID-19 at the end of December or beginning of January with the most vulnerable or elderly first, said the president, who said the recent news of successful vaccine trials offered "a glimmer of hope."

If the infections remained low on January 20, bars and restaurants would then be permitted to reopen and universities would also be able to accept students again, said Macron, adding that if the situation had worsened, he would look at options to avoid triggering a third wave.

"We must do everything to avoid a third wave, do everything to avoid a third lockdown," Macron said.

After curfew measures in major French cities in mid-October failed to produce the results the government had hoped for, it imposed a one-month lockdown on October 30.

(With input from agencies)