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https://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-nationalday-parade/france-scales-down-bastille-day-parade-in-concession-to-virus-idUSKCN24F132

Instead, President Emmanuel Macron, standing in the back of a military jeep, reviewed ranks of socially distanced troops in the Place de la Concorde after a flypast by military aircraft.

“I wish, with all the French, with the armies themselves, to pay a vibrant tribute to health workers and those who, in all sectors, have enabled public, social and economic life to continue,” Macron said in message released ahead of the parade.

“The dedication, tenacity, courage, solidarity that emerged strongly everywhere, in our cities as in our countryside, command admiration.”

Participants offered lengthy applause for health workers, causing some to shed tears.

It is the first time since 1980 that the annual parade has not been held along the Champs Elysees.

Spectators on Tuesday were not allowed near Place de la Concorde to prevent the spread of a disease that has killed at least 30,000 in France.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-53401787

Bastille Day: France honours health workers amid pandemic

Authorities cancelled the traditional military parade but instead held a tribute to those tackling the virus.

Invited audience members included families of French workers who died of Covid-19.

The annual events mark the storming of Bastille prison on 14 July 1789, seen as the start of the French Revolution.

It is the first time officials have called off the annual military parade through the capital Paris since the end of World War Two in 1945.

President Emmanuel Macron gave a rare televised interview after ceremonies in the morning, in which he answered questions about the coronavirus pandemic and the state of the economy.

How has France been celebrating?

Around 2,000 French soldiers gathered for a ceremony in the Place de la Concorde.

It began with a tribute to Gen Charles de Gaulle, who 80 years ago famously called on France to resist the Nazi German occupation in a radio address from the BBC in London.

Johnson welcomes Macron for talks and flypast

'I was Charles de Gaulle's chauffeur'

Though there has been no parade on the Champs-Elysées, the troops were honouring all those mobilised to tackle the coronavirus outbreak - including health workers and the armed forces.

It comes the day after the French government agreed on pay rises worth €8bn (£7.2bn; $9bn) for French health workers.

A traditional fly past included military aircraft as well as a transport plane used to carry Covid-19 patients at the height of the pandemic in France.