France will require people to use a 'health passport' to enter a restaurant or attraction this fall

• France will soon require people to use a COVID-19 "health passport" to get into nonessential places.
• People will have to show they are vaccinated, recently recovered from the virus, or tested negative.
• The policy will go into action in August, Macron said.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday that COVID-19 vaccine passports would soon be required for people to visit nonessential places like restaurants and tourist attractions.

Macron said the new policy would start in August, Agence France-Presse reported, citing Macron's televised address.

The country will be using a "health passport" program in which people can share a QR code or certificate with establishments to show they are vaccinated against COVID-19, recently recovered from the virus, or have had a recent negative COVID-19 test.

"If we do not act today, the number of cases will continue to increase," Macron said in the address, according to France 24.

Macron also said healthcare workers would be required to be vaccinated by September 15. He added that for nonhealthcare workers, getting vaccinated was a "matter of individual responsibility … but also a matter of our freedom."

His comments on Monday were the latest move to try to slow COVID-19 infections in France and encourage more people to get vaccinated.

Just over 36% of France's population is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

There were 1,260 new coronavirus cases in the country on Monday, France 24 reported.