Monaco closes Covid-19 response centre after three years

The next phase of Monaco’s “living with Covid” strategy is the closure of testing and monitoring centres within the Rainier III Auditorium, which have been used to manage the health crisis since 2020.

The Monaco Government announced on Monday 28th March that the Covid-19 call centre, the testing centre, the home monitoring centre and the epidemiological investigation unit will close their doors on the evening of 31st March, ending the Covid testing and monitoring health services offered by the Prince’s Government.

Now, people who would like to take a PCR test must go to a laboratory, while pharmacies will still be offering rapid antigen tests.

The Covid-19 vaccination centre will be relocated to the Princess Grace Hospital Centre (CHPG), where appointments can be made by telephone.

The government will continue to update its website covid19.mc with relevant information.

“The Prince’s Government sends its very sincere thanks to all the teams mobilised during this crisis for their work and their involvement,” said the government in a statement.

 

 

Photo credit: Manuel Vitali, Government Communication Department

 

 

Call for extras ahead of filming of new Karl Lagerfeld biopic in Monaco

karl lagerfeld monaco

The life of legendary designer and former Monaco resident Karl Lagerfeld is being turned into a television series and the producers are looking for “elegant women and men” to be a part of Kaiser Karl.  

If anyone’s life deserves to be made into a series, it is Karl Lagerfeld. The iconic designer, who died in 2019 at the age of 85, had a turbulent life filled with contradictions and excitement that would make for seriously good viewing… And now it will.  

Disney+ has commissioned a biopic television series that will partly be filmed in Monaco and the production company is looking for extras to be part of the ride.  

TO BE AN EXTRA 

The range is broad, with the advertisement asking for elegant women and men between the ages of 18 and 80. There are a few specifics, such as men needing hair to be at least two inches long, and for women to not have “overly colourful” hairstyles. No one is to have visible tattoos.  

The Monaco part of the series will be set in the 80s and 90s, and shooting will start in mid-May.  

A FASCINATING LIFE 

Lagerfeld, who took over the Chanel empire a decade after the death of Coco Chanel, considered the Principality home for many years, and his story would be incomplete without its inclusion.  

Disney+ has used an adaptation of Raphaëlle Bacqué biography to create the series, which starts in 1972, just after Chanel’s death, and traces Lagerfeld’s rise. It hits on his rivalry with Yves Saint Laurent, and his love story with the dangerous and flighty Jacques de Bascher. The show will feature German heart throb Daniel Brühl in the starring role. 

“More than a period piece, Kaiser Karl will delve into Lagerfeld’s world and his personality – a character who, while quite famous, cultivated and maintained an air of intense mystery,” said Disney in a press release. “It will shine a light on the high-end fashion houses of the 70s as well as how Lagerfeld built his unique and sometimes controversial personal brand in a world where appearances are everything.” 

For a chance to be part of this historic series, register here.  

 

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Photo credit: Palais Princier de Monaco archives