Emmanuel Macron and his wife watch scaled-down Bastille Day celebrations

Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron oversaw slimmed-down Bastille Day celebrations in Paris today as France marked its most important national day in unusual fashion. 

An hour-long military parade took place in Place de la Concorde, the city’s largest square, as opposed to the Champs Elysees – the first time since 1945 that the street has not been the focal point of the celebrations.

The parade involved 2,195 troops, half as many as usual, with detachments limited to 49 people to help prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Meanwhile the crowd was limited to just 2,500 spectators with foreign dignitaries largely replaced by the families of health workers who died fighting the virus along with essential staff. 

The event, which typically attracts tens of thousands of onlookers, has been closed to the public this year. Spectators have also been told to watch a night-time fireworks display from home and traditional parties at fire stations, which throw open their doors to welcome revellers, have been cancelled.  

The parade comes a day after Macron signed a deal that guarantees £7billion in payrises and new contracts for health workers, who had planned to demonstrate opposite the square to highlight the government’s failings. 

With tears in their eyes or smiles on their faces, medical workers stood silently as lengthy applause rang out over the Place de la Concorde in central Paris from Macron, head of the World Health Organization Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and 2,000 other guests. 

A military choir sang the Marseillaise national anthem, and troops unfurled an enormous French tricolor flag across the plaza.

For some, the national homage is not nearly enough to make up for the equipment and staff shortages that plagued public hospitals as the virus raced across France, claiming more than 30,000 lives. 

Activists sent a banner above the ceremony tied to balloons reading: ‘Behind the tributes, Macron is suffocating hospitals.’

This year’s commemoration also paid homage to former President Charles de Gaulle, 80 years after the historic appeal he made to opponents of France’s Nazi occupiers that gave birth to the French Resistance.

But the battle against the virus was the main focus of the official event in central Paris, as Macron sought to highlight France’s successes in combating its worst crisis since World War II. 

Mirage and Rafale fighter jets painted the sky with blue-white-and-red smoke, and were joined by helicopters that had transported COVID-19 patients in distress.

Macron called the ceremony ‘the symbol of the commitment of an entire nation’ and ‘the symbol of our resilience.’

The guests included nurses, doctors, supermarket and nursing home workers, mask makers, lab technicians, undertakers and others who kept France going during its strict nationwide lockdown. 

Families of medical workers who died with the virus also had a place in the stands.

‘Exceptionally, this year, our armies … will cede the primary place to the women and men in hospital coats who fought’ the virus and who remain ‘ramparts in the crisis,’ Macron said. 

It was a Bastille Day unlike any other, as medics in jeans or sandals strolled onto the plaza for the climax of the ceremony, and the lengthy military parade was truncated into a smaller affair closed to the public to prevent new virus infections.

Masks were ubiquitous. Troops sported them as they got in formation, took them off for the ceremony, then put them on again when it was over. 

Macron made a point of donning his before speaking to WHO chief Dr Tedros.

At the start of the ceremony, fighter jets painted the sky red, white and blue in a traditional fly-past, but were also joined by helicopters that transported coronavirus emergency patients.

France is one of the hardest-hit countries in the world with coronavirus, having seen almost 210,000 patients diagnosed, and more than 30,000 deaths.

The country went into a strict lockdown in early March in order to slow the spread of the virus, before beginning a gradual reopening starting in May.

Experts are now warning of the possibility of a second wave of infections, as people head back into public spaces and fly off on holidays.

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

The celebrations took place shortly after Macron has agreed a £7billion payrise and hiring spree for healthcare workers after they took to the streets in protest following the coronavirus crisis.  

The money will largely cover pay rises for existing staff – with nurses, care workers and non-medical staff getting the bulk of it – while 15,000 new staff will be hired. 

The move comes after two months of negotiations that were launched by Emmanuel Macron amid protests over his handling of the crisis.

It is likely to increase calls for other hard-hit European countries – such as the UK, Spain and Italy – to follow suit. 

Health workers were regularly honoured during France’s first wave of coronavirus with people applauding their efforts from their doorsteps.

But medics demanded concrete reward for their sacrifice, and took to the streets demanding investment after years of cuts to the health system.

The demonstrations sometimes descended into rioting amid fears they were being hijakced by Antifa, with police using tear gas and baton charges.

But on Tuesday negotiations yielded a deal that a majority of unions have now signed up to. 

New French Prime Minister Jean Castex hailed the deal as an ‘historic moment for our health system’ at a signing ceremony on Monday.

‘This is first of all recognition of those who have been on the front line in the fight against this epidemic,’ he said.

‘It’s also a way of catching up the delay for each and every one – including perhaps myself – has their share of responsibility.’