Not compulsory (except in public transport), but "recommended" by Emmanuel Macron, masks are essential, with respect for barrier gestures and hydroalcoholic gel, as the main means of preventing the spread of the new coronavirus during the period of deconfinement. Where to find them, at what price, how to use them, what practices to avoid ... France 24 explains everything you need to know about them.

What types of masks? Where to find them and at what prices?

There are two main families of masks: medical and non-medical. The first group includes anti-splash masks, called "surgical" (often blue or green) and individual respiratory protection masks with variable air filtration capacity - including FFP2 (often in the shape of a duckbill), in shortage in strategic state stocks.

The second, non-medical, can be of two types, according to the ANSM. Category 1, these are "individual masks for use by professionals in contact with the public" - for cashier hostesses or law enforcement officials. Category 2, these are "collective protective masks", also called masks for the general public or "solidarity barrier masks", which the whole population can find over the counter.

Currently, consumer masks are the most accessible to purchase. You can find it near you, in each French department, AFNOR referencing the different manufacturers who participate in their manufacture. Tobacconists, supermarkets and pharmacies sell these masks for the general public and must normally specify the number of possible washes - from 5 to 50. Sales are at variable prices: 2 to 3 euros minimum, 5 euros at tobacconists and more depending on possible reuse.

You can also find surgical masks in pharmacies or supermarkets, often by 10 or 50. Their price, capped by the government, cannot exceed 95 cents per unit.

How to use a mask and keep it if it is reusable?

Once purchased, a consumer or surgical mask can be used for up to four hours. Before putting it on his face, there are several steps to follow:

  • Wash hands or use hydroalcoholic gel. 
  • Put on the mask, holding it only by the elastic bands .
  • Pinch at the level of the nose,  so that it is completely covered,  and lower the mask below the chin.
  • Remove it by the elastic when its use is finished.
  • Dispose of the mask in a closed bin or keep it in an airtight bag if it is reusable.
  • Wash your hands again or use hydroalcoholic gel.

    • Masks for the general public, to be reusable, must be washed during a cycle of at least 30 minutes at 60 degrees, according to the ANSM [the national drug safety agency], passed through a tumble dryer if possible and then ironed. steam "with a temperature compatible with (their) composition". Professionals who sell reusable masks for the general public sometimes provide a maintenance manual adapted to the mask sold.

    Practices to avoid that make the mask ineffective

    The massive use of the mask in French society is a novelty which may explain why its use is sometimes inappropriate. Whether it is for the general public or for surgery, the mask is used to protect others from the droplets emitted when talking, coughing or sneezing.

    Also its effectiveness is directly called into question when it is worn upside down - with the colored face on the mouth side for the surgical mask, for example -, that the mask does not entirely cover the nose or even when you lower your mask on your neck for talking, calling or smoking. You should also not touch your mask during use and do not place it on a surface that has not been previously disinfected.

    Using your surgical mask more than the maximum recommended four hours also greatly reduces its effectiveness, as does reusing a mask without having washed it first. Finally, putting your mask in your pocket rather than in an airtight bag will produce the same effect as the examples cited above, which are as many situations where the mask loses its original function, that is to say the "filtration of 70% to 80% of the particles emitted by the person wearing the mask ". To prevent dehydration due to prolonged wearing of the mask, it is advisable to drink regularly.

    How to avoid fogging on spectacle lenses?

    The question deserves to be asked in a country where 76% of French people wear glasses, according to a YouGov study conducted in 2019. Even if pinching the mask at the nose is supposed to limit the passage of air towards the eyes, fogging often appears in a few minutes on the glasses of spectacle wearers.

    Several methods exist to see something of its journey with a mask. One is to fold down the upper part of his mask. In this case, the tissue should, however, be large enough to cover the nostrils and the mouth and not lose efficiency. Another method, proposed in 2011 by the Royal College of Surgeons of England, consists in placing a disposable handkerchief folded between the skin of the face and the top of the mask. The handkerchief then absorbs moisture from the exhaled air.

    An Oise company faced with the same concern about fogging on glasses for some of its employees has also created "Pince mi", as reported by France 3 Hauts-de-France. This stainless steel piece with shape memory, sold for less than a euro, allows you to permanently pinch the top of the mask to block the air which leaves in the direction of the eyes.

    It is also possible to wash your glasses with soapy water, a solution that temporarily prevents the water molecules from depositing to form fogging, according to the Royal College of Surgeons of England. Finally, the anti-fog spray sold by opticians can also do the trick.

    The mask, necessary, but sometimes problematic for certain audiences

    The need to wear a mask to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in society no longer seems to demonstrate, especially in confined spaces, or with high population traffic in a small space. But whether they are general public or surgical, these filtering protections can pose problems for several types of public.

    Starting with people with mutism and / or deafness: the wearing of an opaque mask is considered "a major obstacle" by the National Federation of the Deaf of France (FNSF), because it prevents them from reading lips of their interlocutor and to be able to interact with it accordingly. An AFNOR transparent mask development solution is being developed to overcome this concern, like this initiative in Oise.

    People with psychiatric and autistic disorders can also be embarrassed by wearing a mask, as explained by Sciences et Avenir. Disorders can be aggravated because of the wearing of the mask, in particular a risk "of accentuating the delusions of the people suffering from schizophrenia, in particular those related to symptoms of paranoia", explains Dr Jérôme Palazzolo to the monthly popular science publication.

    Finally, wearing a mask hardly seems possible for children up to a certain age. "It is very complicated to ask children to wear a mask all day, without touching it", estimated on April 24 the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, on France Inter, taking as an example "a child of 10 or 11 years "to illustrate his point. And the Minister added: "We must insist on the barrier gestures and the children have really appropriated these gestures". Barrier gestures which are also necessary for adults in addition to a suitable wearing of the mask.

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