Lille will have to get used to the mask outside. Monday morning, it will become compulsory in the European Metropolis of Lille as announced by the prefect of the North, Michel Lalande. This concerns 94 municipalities in the metropolis, or 1,250,000 inhabitants. For Étienne Champion, director of the Hauts-de-France Regional Health Agency, this was essential to fight against the spread of the coronavirus.
Regulations and an awareness campaign
"We have seen a doubling of the number of cases in the European metropolis of Lille in a week. So, obviously, this is a dynamic that worries us" he explains. Thus, the wearing of the mask becomes obligatory "in all the dense zones of the metropolis: pedestrian zones, car parks, shopping arcades, open-air markets, near stations, airports and also in green spaces.
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This measure is "the most spectacular" but it is not the only one. "Reinforced regulations for people in nursing homes, to protect vulnerable people" and "an awareness campaign, promoting barrier gestures and the StopCovid application which will be carried out on social networks and on the Internet" will also take place, details Etienne Champion. The application "StopCovid is at the same time a very good solution to take advantage of both a festive place and to fight against the epidemic" judges the director of the ARS of Hauts-de-France, indicating to think of "young people and not so young, who eat and drink and cannot always wear the mask ".