In France, the mask requirement in all schools and universities nationwide fell on Monday.
Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer said: "Let's be careful even without masks!" After two years of the pandemic, the mask requirement in public life is largely suspended.
Whether shopping, doing sports or in the catering trade - mouth and nose protection is no longer mandatory.
Michael Wiegel
Political correspondent based in Paris.
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The easing also applies to the workplace.
"We are returning to normal life in companies," said Labor Minister Élisabeth Borne.
Only public transport, hospitals and nursing homes are exempt from the easing.
The legal obligation to vaccinate for all professions in the healthcare sector remains in place.
The government has also suspended the vaccination card that had to be presented in restaurants, theatres, cafes, cinemas and other cultural institutions.
Long-distance travel by train, bus and plane within France is again possible without proof of vaccination.
For travelers from Germany, however, it still applies that they must show a valid European vaccination certificate upon entry.
A heated debate has broken out about the far-reaching easing, because the number of infections has been rising again for a week.
The incidence is 630 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants within one week, and the trend is rising.
2000 Covid patients are treated in the intensive care units.
In view of the resurgence in numbers, Prime Minister Jean Castex recommended in the newspaper Le Parisien that the elderly and those with pre-existing conditions continue to wear a mask indoors and at gatherings.
He also announced that people over the age of 80 can now receive a fourth dose of corona vaccine if the third vaccination was more than three months ago.