- Since this Wednesday, the city of Sceaux has gone further than the current restrictive measures adopted throughout the territory as part of the state of health emergency.
- The inhabitants of this town of Hauts-de-Seine must now cover their mouths and noses when they go out. "A measure of common sense," said the mayor, Philippe Laurent, who justifies the measure by the relaxation observed this weekend.
- This Wednesday morning, the order was generally respected by the Scéens. But not understood by all.
A sleep mask, of those that we put on planes, white with yellow peas and decorated with a flower on the side. If it were necessary to elect the most original find to protect the nose and the mouth, this Wednesday morning in Sceaux, in the Hauts-de-Seine, Thibaut and Sybel would undoubtedly not be far from the first places. Challenged by Thierry, whose mask designed from a paper towel with flower patterns was also very beautiful.
"I typed" mask "on Google and I quickly came across a very simple tutorial, says this pensioner, crossed rue Houdan, the shopping artery of Sceaux. You fold the towel in accordion, you put the elastic, you fold down, you fix everything with staples, and voila. "
"In any case, I impose the wearing of a surgical mask or FFP2"
The technique is in any case validated by Philippe Laurent, UDI mayor of Sceaux. Since Monday, the elected official has been under fire from the media for being one of the mayors wanting to go further than the current restrictive measures adopted throughout the territory, as part of the state of health emergency facing the coronavirus.
Philippe Laurent does not impose a curfew, does not prohibit DIY and gardening between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., or has not removed the public benches to avoid gatherings. On the other hand, he took a decree, effective since Wednesday morning, which obliges the inhabitants of his city, of more than 10 years, to cover the nose and the mouth before leaving. At the risk, if not, of receiving a fine of 38 euros? A sanction that Philippe Laurent, who prefers to appeal to the common sense of his constituents, is currently rejecting. "In any case, I impose the wearing of a surgical mask or FFP2," he insists. A handmade mask, scarf or scarf can do the trick, as long as the mouth and nose are covered. It is not an insurmountable effort. Many are already doing this. "
Some faces without masks this Wednesday morning
To justify his decision, the mayor relies on several scientific opinions. In particular that of the Academy of Medicine, which ruled Friday April 3 that a "general public" mask should be made compulsory for outings during and after confinement. He also relies on the "clear relaxation in respect of confinement" observed this weekend in his city. "Too many people in the city center and on the green corridor and, above all, far too close to each other," he says. It looked like a normal spring weekend. "
Sceaux, city of dunces? "No more than elsewhere," replied Thibaut. But here, the shops are mainly concentrated in one and the same street, so that the slackening was perhaps more visible than in other cities. This Wednesday morning, the Scéens were still numerous to walk the streets of the city center. Including, for some, the mouth and nose to the air. Like Claudine, who had not heard of the order. "I'm not on the networks all the time and I'm cutting the media a bit these days, so as not to be bombarded with anxiety-provoking information," she conceded. Or like many joggers around the Parc de Sceaux. "Impossible to run with a mask," justify Terrence and Cynthia, who still say they are ready to put on masks in the future for their other outings.
Overall respected ... but understood?
Apart from these few exceptions, the vast majority of Sceans respected the decree. Understanding it, however, is another story. Both wearing an FFP2 mask, Antoine and Valérie are among those who applaud their mayor's decision. Without calling themselves collapsologists, this mother and her son explain that they have been preparing for years for the possibility of a health crisis of this kind, and have very little taste for the government's wait-and-see attitude in the management of this health crisis. "We should immediately apply the measures as strict as those adopted in China," says Antoine. This applies to this obligation to cover the mouth and nose, which should have been taken from the first day of confinement. And not so much by the mayor of Sceaux, but by the state. "
"If we want to get back to work as quickly as possible, we will have to put on masks," says Marie-Noël, who has a few surgical masks in reserve and has made others out of fabrics with old towels. "It is not sea to drink either," adds Thibaut.
Other Sceans, on the contrary, have reservations. This is the case of Maud and Marianne, interrupted in the middle of a conversation on this subject. "We should have started by applying the measures already decreed in the context of containment, slides the first, which deplores the too many crowds of people observed in Sceaux, or the large number of joggers to walk the city although this activity is now prohibited between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. in the Hauts de Seine. Like in Paris.
"An order that weakens the government's message"
"I would have understood this decree if it had been accompanied by a distribution of masks to the inhabitants, as Nice foresees, or, at least, of explanations on how to make the masks made at home the most effective, indicates for her part Marianne. For lack of anything better, she made an artisanal protection with a scarf, without being convinced of being more protected. A question that we also necessarily ask ourselves with Thierry, whose mask made with a paper towel ended up being pierced in the middle.
Jean-Christophe Dessanges, candidate of the Sceaux Avance list [supported by LREM], opposed to Philippe Laurent in these 2020 municipal elections, sees in this decree "a coup de com '". "We still don't know a lot about how the virus spreads and there are, in any case, not enough surgical masks or FFP2 for everyone," he begins. In this context, the essential message is that hammered by the government: "stay confined". The decree taken by the mayor of Sceaux weakens it, giving the impression to the Scéens that they can go out, as long as they covered their nose and mouth, even with a scarf. "Jean-Christophe Dessanges expected much more then the mayor" on the devices he could have put in place to support the residents of the town to reduce their outings. "
"At no time do we say that covering your nose and mouth to go out is sufficient precaution and gives you the right to go out when you want," defends Philippe Laurent. But the elected official rejects the observation made by the Minister of the Interior, Christophe Castaner, according to which confinement is generally well respected in France. "We have not had, in recent days, images of city centers empty as we have seen in Italy or China, he says. In this context, additional measures are required. When the state does not, mayors have the right to act ”
Mayors take these additional measures?
This is precisely the whole question raised by the legal action brought by the League for Human Rights, which attacks both the substance - "the obstruction of fundamental rights and freedoms" - as the form, the LDH considers that 'a town hall does not have the competence to take such a decree.
"This legal action is positive that it will open the debate," replies Philippe Laurent, who draws a parallel with the anti-pesticide orders taken this summer and last fall by mayors of France to determine areas of non-treatment around homes. The town of Sceaux had already been talked about on this issue.
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