Coronavirus: Should we wear masks on TV shows?

The fear of sending back an "anxiety-provoking" image explains the reluctance of the chains to impose the wearing of a mask on stage.

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• The head of government said on Monday that France was at this very moment, facing the second wave of coronavirus.

• The number of new infections is rising sharply, as are admissions to intensive care units.

• And if the virus is actively circulating in France, it does not spare TV shows and radio studios, where the question arises of the need to wear the mask.

We never see him there (or almost).

It covers no nose, no mouth.

Perhaps it is not considered sufficiently telegenic?

Because, whether it is surgical, FFP2, in neutral fabric or homemade, on the sets of TV news, continuous news channels, morning shows and in radio studios, the mask is not popular. , no one wears it.

Some journalists have also had to go through the isolation box in recent weeks, after having tested positive for the coronavirus.

So, should the mask be worn on television sets and in radio studios?

Should these workplaces be subject to the obligation to wear a mask?

Should journalists set an example for the general public when France is, according to Prime Minister Jean Castex, in a "strong second wave" of Covid-19?

A TV set, a confined workspace like any other

Since September 1, wearing a mask has been compulsory in business and within administrations.

All employees must therefore always wear one when they are in an open space, in meeting rooms, in the circulation areas of the workplace or in the collective catering area.

If we define an open space as a workspace shared by several people, a TV set or a radio studio is therefore a form of open space.

Wearing a mask should therefore be compulsory and masked faces should be much more present on the air than is the case today.

"All mass contamination occurs in closed places, via aerosolization," recalls Dr Jérôme Marty, general practitioner and president of the French Union for Free Medicine (UFML).

As we know, there is no example in the world of mass contamination outdoors, which is why wearing it outside is useless, except in specific places where the population concentration is high.

But in an enclosed place where there is an infected person, that's another story, especially since there is a very large proportion of asymptomatic people, who are also contagious and excrete the virus just like symptomatic patients ” .

To get an idea, "we have to imagine the excretion of the virus as a cloud of smoke: it is as if the person who is carrying the virus had a cigarette in his mouth and emitted smoke with each breath, except that in this case, it is virus that it diffuses.

So imagine what an infected person diffuses for one, two or three hours on set!

Plexiglas panels would not change anything moreover: only wearing a mask, which will retain 95% of the virus excreted, provides effective protection ”.

Contaminated journalists

And this situation which worries Prof. Axel Khan, geneticist and president of the League against cancer.

“Friends journalists and radio - TV presenters, more and more of you are contaminated, to remain without a mask on the sets, confined.

Guest, I do not take off my mask.

Also to protect you.

I am 76 years old.

Wearing a mask would protect you and me.

Thank you, ”he wrote on Twitter on Friday.

Friends journalists and radio - TV presenters, more and more of you are infected, to remain without a mask on the sets, confined.

Guest, I do not take off my mask.

Also to protect you.

I am 76 years old.

Wearing a mask would protect you and me.

Thank you.

- Axel Kahn (@axelkahn) October 9, 2020

And it is true that TV and radio journalists have been affected by the coronavirus.

At the beginning of September, the journalist Alain Marschall, who officiates at the Grandes gueules of RMC, tested positive for Covid-19.

His acolyte, Olivier Truchot, must then confine himself to his home, as well as all the people considered as contact cases.

A few days ago, it was Eric Zemmour showing symptoms of the coronavirus, which led to the placement in septaine of his colleagues on the set.

Finally, this Friday, the journalist of Europe 1 Wendy Bouchard invited the general public to be extremely vigilant and revealed to have tested positive, too.

Dear friends, be extra vigilant!

# COVID19 is circulating at maddening speed and is creeping in everywhere because of us.

Despite all my precautions, mom in addition, I am positive and isolated.

The labs are desperate for the number of cases.

Think of the others!

See you soon

- Wendy Bouchard (@WendyBouchard) October 10, 2020

Avoid anxiety-inducing images

So why is the obligation to wear a mask not respected on TV shows and radio studios?

"Having masked journalists on the air can be anxious and that poses a problem of sound and image", replied at the end of August the president of the France Televisions group, Delphine Ernotte, to the 

, on the eve of the entry into force of the obligation to wear a mask in the workplace.

The “anxiety-provoking” side is also what Marc-Olivier Fogiel, managing director of BFMTV, the 24-hour news channel where the journalists on the set do not wear masks either.

But they have the right.

TVs and radios benefit from an exemption from the Ministry of Labor allowing speakers, journalists and guests, to be exempt from wearing a mask, "for activities that would prove incompatible with wearing a mask: for example, for interventions oral or public speaking limited in time, in confined spaces respecting the defined organizational measures ”, specifies the ministry.

But the health measures of TVs and radios are not limited to what the cameras show.

Thus, on the sets, all the technicians wear a mask.

And in the rest of the premises, wearing a mask is also required.

A valid obligation for journalists, who put one on as soon as they leave sets or studios.

"And the health protocols established are very strict," adds Dr. Marty, used to television sets.

Taking the temperature on arrival at the premises, wearing a mask and distributing hydroalcoholic gel are systematic ”.

The timid appearance of masks

Sign of a timid inflection which is beginning, it is masked that the Prime Minister, Jean Castex, presented himself this Monday morning on the set of the morning of franceinfo.

A filmed interview during which the head of government answered questions from two journalists who were not wearing them.

And Jean Castex is not the only one.

In recent weeks, it is now hidden that Dr. Marty goes on the platforms of the news channels.

"It is very related to the context of the moment: I did not wear the mask on stage as long as there were few cases of coronavirus in consultation, but as soon as there was a sharp increase in confirmed cases and contact at the office, that my risk of exposure to Covid-19 increased, I decided to wear it on a plateau, to protect others, it's normal.

And in terms of communication on the protective role of the mask, seeing more masks on TV during this period of epidemic outbreak would send a good message ”.

A trend also adopted in the studios of France Inter, where Léa Salamé and the rest of the morning team have been wearing a mask for a few days.

While for the head of government, France is currently experiencing "a second strong wave", Emmanuel Macron should announce new measures to try to stop the spread of the coronavirus this Wednesday evening at 8 p.m.

It remains to be seen whether, to set an example, it will be masked for the occasion.

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