Paris (AFP)

The announcement by Emmanuel Macron of the obligation to wear a mask in "closed public places" from August 1 rejoices those who argued for this measure, but they demand its application without delay and including in the workplace.

"Waiting a fortnight more is too much," judges in Le Parisien psychiatrist Antoine Pelissolo, author of a column calling for the wearing of the mandatory mask in enclosed spaces, published Saturday in this daily.

"We do not really understand the reason for this postponement. Applying this measure is urgent. We know that at any time, there can be a resurgence of the epidemic. Lost time is deleterious," he said.

The President of the Republic said he hoped that "in the coming weeks we make mandatory the mask in all closed public places (...) for example from August 1", Tuesday during the interview on July 14.

"It takes time to appropriate a new doctrine, and therefore making it mandatory within a certain time allows this work of appropriation" by the French, argued Tuesday evening the Minister of Health Olivier Véran.

He also justified this delay by a necessary "logistical work". "Where do the masks come from, how do we ensure that the French have them? We need to be able to answer these questions, this requires having a few days," he added, during a press briefing at the from a visit to the Henri-Mondor hospital in Créteil (AP-HP).

Another question: what does the expression "closed public places" used by the Head of State cover, which is not a legal term? Will this obligation apply only in "establishments open to the public" or to all workplaces?

"There will be a fairly rapid work of definition" on the part of the government to know "what public places we are talking about, how the obligation applies", assured Tuesday evening Gabriel Attal, the government spokesperson, on BFMTV.

According to the law of exit from the state of health emergency of July 9, "the Prime Minister may, by decree taken on the report of the Minister of Health, (...) regulate (...) the conditions of 'access (...) to one or more categories of establishments open to the public as well as meeting places, with the exception of premises for residential use ".

In Saint-Ouen (Seine-Saint-Denis), where this measure has been in effect since Monday, the measure concerns "any closed establishment open to the public, whether its activity is administrative or commercial" (shops, town hall, public services , common areas of hotels, etc.), said the prefecture in a press release.

But for the doctors who signed a second forum, put online Sunday by Liberation, it is "essential" that the measure also applies "in the workplace".

"The virus does not in fact know the subtlety of the administrative definitions of enclosed spaces, it is the same everywhere", they say, in a reaction transmitted to AFP, stressing that according to Public Health France, "professional premises represent 25 % of clusters under investigation and almost 20% of recent clusters ".

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