Coronavirus in Ireland: the compulsory mask shunned in public transport

Audio 1:15

Text by: Emeline Vin

In Ireland, public transport users have had to cover their faces since the start of the week. However, the transport companies register a rather weak adhesion. In the country's major cities - Dublin, Galway, Limerick - only 50% comply with the new rule. Report on board the city's double-decker buses.

Publicity

From our correspondent in Dublin,

Stickers on the windows remind people to cover their noses and mouths on board. Thirty, Ban assumes to be part of the half who travels naked face. "  I think it's a bit late to get started, " she says. I wore a mask at the very beginning of the pandemic, but not anymore. It's a pain in the ass. "

When asked if people are looking at her strangely, Ban replies, "  I don't know. I don't watch people on the bus. Many don't wear masks either, huh. And then I don't care.  "

Outside the microphone, a driver explains that management forbids him, for the moment, to refuse unmasked passengers. Fortunately, he says, a Plexiglas screen protects him.

Sitting upstairs, Peter would like civility to take precedence. "  It is not the role of the driver, I believe that everyone should take their responsibilities," he believes. I feel protected by wearing my mask, but just yesterday, the three people in front of me had a mask, but not the three behind. You don't know who these people are in contact with.  "

The best students are intercity and rural travelers, with a minimum of 7 out of 10 masked passengers.

Our selection on the coronavirus

• Listen to our Coronavirus Info column 

• Our  explanations  :
→  What we know about the mode of contagion
→  Disparities and inequalities in the face of the coronavirus
→  Triple therapy, Discovery… update on research
→  Remdesivir, antibodies and immunity
→  The race for the vaccine is in full swing
→  How to make a mask and use it well

• Our series  :
→ “  The response, country by country  ”
→ “  Words of nurses  ”

• After Covid-19, towards a new world?

• See also the files of RFI Savoirs on the Covid-19:
→  Birth of a pandemic
→  Everyday life put to the test
→  The history of epidemics
→  Science facing the Covid-19
→  The geopolitical consequences

Newsletter Receive all international news directly in your mailbox

Follow all international news by downloading the RFI application

• Ireland
• Coronavirus
• Health and Medicine

On the same subject

Great report

Ireland: Covid-19 weakens cattle sector on its knees

Coronavirus and labor law: requests for legal aid explode in Ireland

Coronavirus: the baccalaureate canceled in Ireland