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World
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THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2020
Americas
Europe
PARIS (AP) —Workers are preparing
the Eiffel Tower for reopening
next week, after the coronavirus
pandemic led to the iconic Paris
landmark’s longest closure since
World War II.
France’s tourism industry is
opening back up, but the 324-metre
tall wrought-iron tower will not
immediately welcome visitors the
way it did before the country went
into lockdown in March.
Only limited numbers of people
will be allowed in when the Eiffel
Tower opens again on June 25.
Elevators to the top will be out of
service, at least at irst, and only
the irst and second loors will be
accessible to the public.
“At irst, only visits by the stairs
will be available,” Victoria Klahr,
the spokeswoman for the tower’s
management, said on Tuesday.
Everyone over 11 years will be
required to wear face masks, and
crowd control measures will be
in place.
“We are optimistic that visitor
numbers will pick up, even if it will
likely be local tourists who visit
the monument in the irst weeks,”
Klahr said.
The tower’s director told The
Associated Press (AP) on Tuesday
that he hopes access will be back
to normal by August.
A stringent cleaning operation
is in place and will continue daily
from next week.
“There is a new protocol,” said
Eiffel Tower HygieneConsultant Alain
Miralles. “The day cleaning teams will
be able to clean all the points of con-
tact every two hours, from the open-
ing of the site to its closing,”
Touristsplanning trips to theCity
of Light are advised to book tickets
to visit the Eiffel Tower online once
the ticket ofice reopens today.
Paris tourism oficials have
expressed muted optimism about
the city’s reemergence as a travel
destination. Since coninement
measures were imposed in March,
tourism levels have dropped by
around 80 per cent compared to
the same month in previous years,
they said.
“To visit Paris now is quite
exceptional, as we of course don’t
have many visitors and we don’t
expect this summer to be at the
same level as previous ones,”
Director of Paris’ businesses and
tourism ofice Corinne Menegaux
told AP.
Hotel owners are also keen to
welcome visitors again, if realistic
about the challenges ahead - and
the competition among European
countries to draw tourists back in
the coronavirus era.
“Everyone in Europe is looking
to draw the European clientele. The
Italians want to bring in the French,
the Germans want to attract the
Danes,” said President of France’s
Astotel Group Serge Cachan.
He pointed out the plexiglass
protections in the reception area
of one of his hotels and arrows
Eiffel Tower to reopen after
longest closure since WWII
to ensure social distancing. He
welcomed the French President’s
decision last Sunday to let Paris
restaurants reopen earlier than
planned. “Without restaurants,
there is no conviviality, there is
no tourism, there are no clients in
hotels,” he said in an interview.
“The message I would like to on-
pass to the city of Paris is: Hurry and
open up all of the tourist attractions
and activities.”
RICHMOND (AP) — Richmond’s
Mayor said on Tuesday that he
has asked for and accepted the
resignation of the city’s police chief,
saying Virginia’s capital needs “a
new approach” to public safety
after repeated violent clashes
between police and protesters.
Mayor Levar Stoney announced
Chief William Smith’s departure
at a news conference and said
a police major will serve as the
interim chief.
“Richmond is ready for a new
approach to public safety,” Stoney
said. “There is work to be done, and
we’re ready to do it.”
Stoney praised Smith as a “good
man” who has served the city “with
grace” but said it was necessary to
move in a new direction.
“This has been a dificult couple
of weeks. The change is because I
believe we have to ind ways to re-
imagine the way we keep the public
safe,” Stoney said.
The announcement came after
confrontations between Richmond
police and protesters during more
than two weeks of protests over
the police killing of George Floyd,
a black man who died after a
Minneapolis police oficer pressed
his knee into his neck for several
minutes as he pleaded for air.
Tensions exploded last Saturday
after a police SUV struck several
protesters blocking its path near the
Robert E Lee statue, a Confederate
monument that has become a
symbol for the oppression of black
people and a main gathering place
for protesters. No one appeared to
be injured in the incident. Stoney
has called for the oficer driving the
SUV to be placed on administrative
leave and asked a state prosecutor
to investigate.
Richmond Mayor announces police chief ’s resignation
That incident was followed
by two nights of confrontations
between protesters and police, who
used tear gas and pepper spray
on demonstrators. One protester
was arrested after an overnight
demonstration on Monday outside
police headquarters turned violent
and three oficers were injured.
Smith, a 25-year veteran of the
Richmond Police Department, took
over as chief a year ago. Stoney
said Major William Jody Blackwell
will serve as interim chief.
The mayor also outlined a series
of police reforms he hopes to put in
place, including the establishment
of an independent civilian review
board to investigate complaints
about police misconduct and an
alert system so that behavioural
health specialists will be the irst
to respond — rather than police —
when someone is experiencing a
mental health crisis.
Stoney said he believes police
should only use tear gas, pepper
spray and rubber bullets as “the
last resort”.
“We aspire to be a city where
you can come here and peacefully
protest ... and people, all people
involved — law enforcement and
those peaceful protesters — go
home uninjured,” he said.
Governor Ralph Northam has
announced that the state plans to
takedowntheLeestatue,amovethat
was widely praised by protesters.
Several lawsuits have been iled to
try to stop the removal.
Stoney has said he plans to ask
the City Council to approve the
removal of four other Confederate
statues on Richmond’s famed
Monument Avenue.
Richmond Police Chief William Smith listens as Mayor Levar Stoney
addresses a crowd outside Richmond City Hall. PHOTO: AP
FRANKFURT AM MAIN (AFP) -
German biotech irm CureVac
has won permission to start
human trials of a promising
coronavirus vaccine, regulators
announced yesterday, as the
global race to stop the pandemic
gathers pace.
The Paul Ehrlich Institute
(PEI),
the
German
body
responsible
for
assessing
clinical trials and approving
vaccines, called the approval
“an important milestone”.
In a statement, it said it had
given CureVac the green light
based on “a careful assessment
of the risk/beneit proile of the
vaccine candidate”.
Globally, there are now
11 coronavirus vaccines be-
ing tested on humans, ac-
cording to the World Health
Organization (WHO).
CureVac’s milestone comes
just two days after the German
government said it was spend-
ing EUR300 million to take a 23
per cent stake in the irm, in an
apparent attempt to stop it from
ending up in foreign hands.
According to German media,
CureVac is planning a listing
on the New York-based Nasdaq
stock exchange next month.
CureVac already made head-
lines earlier this year on reports
that United States (US) President
Donald Trump had sought to se-
cure exclusive rights for the US
to a potential coronavirus vac-
cine by the Tuebingen-based
biotech company.
Both the irm and US ofi-
cials denied the claim, but the
reports sparked outrage in Ber-
lin and prompted Economy Min-
ister Peter Altmaier to declare
that “Germany is not for sale”.
CureVac is the second Ger-
man company to move to the
trial phase after the Paul Ehrlich
Institute in April authorised clin-
ical tests for a vaccine against
COVID¤19 being developed by
Germany’s Biontech with US
giant Pizer.
Both German hopefuls are
using a new technology based
on mRNA, a type of genetic ma-
terial never before used to make
a vaccine.
The process entails injecting
a short sequence of viral genet-
ic material to trigger an immune
response by producing proteins
acting against the virus.
CureVac’s trial will involve
168 healthy volunteers, of whom
144 will be injected with the
experimental vaccine starting
this month.
The Paul Ehrlich Institute
said it expects more vaccine
candidates to start clinical tri-
als in Germany “in the next
few months”.
“Combatting the pandemic
will require more than one vac-
cine product in order to ensure
suficient supplies,” it added.
Germany recently teamed
up with France, Italy and the
Netherlands to secure supplies
for the European Union of a vac-
cine under development by As-
traZeneca and Britain’s Oxford
University, seen as a leading
contender in the battle against
the deadly virus.
Germany’s CureVac
starts human trials for
COVID-19 vaccine
The Eiffel Tower in Paris. PHOTO: AFP