- If wearing a mask has been compulsory in public places closed since July 20, it is also compulsory in public places open to many municipalities since him.
- The measure shares doctors, but the government wants to push the French to be even more vigilant in the face of the coronavirus.
- Today, the epidemic is returning to the territory, with more than 1,000 new daily contaminations.
What do Biarritz, Lille, Tours, Nice and Laval have in common? In addition to a gloomy sky, all these cities - and dozens of others in France - require the wearing of masks in the street from this Monday. The Minister of Health Olivier Véran had indicated on Friday: "To limit the circulation of the Covid-19, the prefects will now be able by order to extend the obligation to wear a mask to open public places". Thus, the prefect of Mayenne has made wearing a mask compulsory in public places open in 69 municipalities in the department. The objective: to counter by all means the epidemic of coronavirus which sets out again. But why wear the mask in the street? Should we really wear it everywhere?
Is wearing a mask useful in the open air?
This is the question that divides doctors today, between supporters of the total wearing of the mask, including outdoors, and those who believe that wearing it in closed public places is enough to protect themselves from Covid-19. "I personally do not advocate wearing a mask in all circumstances outside," Karine Lacombe, head of the infectious diseases department at Saint-Antoine hospital in Paris, told RTL at the microphone. Wearing a mask 12 hours a day is still very complicated, says the infectious disease specialist. If we already apply it correctly in confined spaces and outside we give ourselves a little air, I think that's reasonable ”. However, she nuances, “obviously, if we are in places where there is no wind, where everyone is confined on top of each other, wearing the mask, that can be an individual responsibility. ". A position that does not share the epidemiologist Catherine Hill, of the Gustave-Roussy Institute, who advocates wearing a mask in all circumstances. "This is what had to be done from the start," she commented on franceinfo. “The message should be simple: Wear a mask when you are outside. Point bar! “, She added unequivocally.
The government has long relied on other barrier gestures - hand washing and physical distancing - to limit the spread of the coronavirus. In mid-March, Edouard Philippe, then head of government, even declared on the TF1 newscast: "Wearing a mask, in the general population in the street, it is useless". But that was before. Before the Covid-19 claimed the lives of more than 30,000 people in France, and when it was impossible for the general public to obtain masks. Almost five months later, the government made a 180-degree turn. While the coronavirus epidemic is returning to France, with clusters erupting everywhere and hospitalizations on the rise, the authorities have decided to crack down. On the occasion of a visit to the Lille metropolis, where the virus is starting again and where the compulsory wearing of a mask in open public places now applies, Prime Minister Jean Castex called on Monday "every Frenchwoman and every French person to remain very vigilant ”. “The virus is not on vacation,” he warned. We must protect ourselves against this virus, especially without bringing economic and social life to a halt, that is to say by avoiding the prospect of generalized reconfinement ”.
While the WHO is now counting on "a very long epidemic", the health authorities want to urge the French to take maximum precautions to protect themselves against the coronavirus. Especially since many of them are slacking on respecting barrier gestures during this summer vacation period. Result: France now has more than 1,000 new daily contaminations against 560 at the beginning of July.
Why is it compulsory to wear a mask outside and not in the workplace?
Today, therefore, it is time for maximum caution. Since July 20, wearing a mask is already compulsory in closed public places. Libraries, places of worship, museums and other cinemas and conference rooms are only accessible with a mask over the nose and mouth. Just like businesses, banks, as well as administrations, also concerned by the compulsory wearing of the mask, because they welcome the public, customers or users.
And why not the rest of the companies? Why are many employees going to the office today not required to wear a mask? Because "their internal functioning is subject to labor law and more particularly to the rules on health at work", responds the Ministry of Health, which recalls that teleworking should be encouraged when possible. However, the government recommended on July 27 that companies provide a stock of masks for ten weeks.
Is the French budget going to explode?
In public transport, for shopping, in shops and now in the streets of dozens of municipalities: today, the French have to wear a mask almost all the time, and change them every four hours to stay protected. It is therefore better to build up a small stock. But whether you opt for single-use or reusable fabric masks, it comes at a cost, which not everyone can afford. However, Emmanuel Macron declared that the French taxpayer is “not intended to pay for masks” for everyone, assuring however that those who cannot buy them would be “helped”.
In the process, the Minister of Health Olivier Véran promised to "restart the distribution of free masks" intended for the most vulnerable: the beneficiaries of complementary health solidarity and assistance for the payment of complementary health (ACS) , as well as the "two million French carriers of frailty", who "can be reimbursed for surgical masks on prescription in pharmacies". In total, the government plans to send 40 million washable consumer masks free of charge to the poorest 7 million French people.
For the others, the temptation to reuse the surgical mask lying around in the pocket is great. But the Directorate General of Health (DGS) recalls that "surgical masks are generally disposable and therefore not made to be reused", referring to "the loss of filtering power" of the mask, which would then no longer be as protective against coronavirus.
And better not to forget to wear your mask, because it can be expensive. Whether in enclosed public places or in municipalities where wearing a mask is now mandatory in the street, being without a mask is punishable by a fine of 135 euros.
Society
Coronavirus in Mayenne: Wearing a compulsory mask on Monday in 69 municipalities
Lille
Lille: Castex on the move for the start of the obligation to wear a mask in public spaces
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