After Toulouse, the wearing of a mask will be compulsory from Saturday in streets of central Lyon considered very busy, to prevent the return of holidaymakers and fight against the coronavirus epidemic, the town hall and the Rhône prefecture announced on Wednesday. The town hall proposed "a fairly large perimeter", validated by the prefecture, "which should make it possible to contain and reduce the spread of the disease", declared the mayor EELV Grégory Doucet during a press conference.
Three types of zones
Three types of zones have been identified: those known as nocturnal gathering, for which the obligation will be from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m., those usually very busy such as commercial streets (10 a.m. to 11 p.m.), as well as all the markets (during normal hours 'opening). In particular, a large part of the banks of the Saône and Rhône, the peninsula, Vieux Lyon and the Part-Dieu station area are concerned.
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Signage will be put in place from Friday to allow passers-by to identify these areas. "This weekend will be devoted above all to support measures, awareness. The verbalization will begin on Monday," said Prefect Secretary General Cécile Dindar. "Attendance is expected to increase considerably in the coming days, due to the massive return" of vacationers, she added.
Incidence rate on the rise
"The Rhône has become the department most affected by the coronavirus epidemic in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes," said ARS director general Jean-Yves Grall, also present at the press conference. The department is now at moderate risk: the week of August 1, the incidence rate was 12.8 per 100,000 inhabitants. It climbed to 28.8 the week of August 9.
The city of Lyon, in particular, shows a "significant increase" with an incidence of 32.7. This rate is particularly high among 20-30 year olds and 30-40 year olds. "Young people do not live in autarky, they can infect their parents, their grandparents", recalled Jean-Yves Grall, calling for respect for barrier gestures and isolation in the event of contamination.
The prefectural decree, which concerns people over the age of 11, could be extended beyond October 31 if necessary. Questioned on possible gatherings on the occasion of the match between Olympique Lyonnais and Bayern Munich on Wednesday evening, Grégory Doucet said that "celebrating a football victory with a mask was not a killjoy". "When we forget the mask, we forget the others and the most vulnerable, do not forget them tonight," he added. "The police services will be particularly mobilized this evening", specified Cécile Dindar.