What are the cities in France where the mask is mandatory outdoors?

Since July 20, the mask is mandatory in closed public places. And in recent days, many municipalities have chosen to impose it outdoors. Nice, Biarritz, Strasbourg, Lille ... The list of municipal or prefectural decrees is growing day after day in an attempt to limit the spread of Covid-19.  

Encouraged by the government, some prefects impose it in certain streets, others limit this obligation to markets, still others require it during certain events that do not allow physical distancing to be respected. France 24 takes stock of these cities where it is now mandatory to walk masked.

The prefects can now, in conjunction with health authorities and elected officials, impose the wearing of masks in busy places where physical distancing is impossible.
Here, in the metropolis of Lille, the areas have been selected by the mayors and the prefecture. pic.twitter.com/L3AaLIG4fh

• Where the mask is mandatory outdoors in certain streets

Since August 3, the mask has been mandatory outdoors in certain areas of the Lille metropolis, in particular busy streets, pedestrian areas, near train stations and parks. A decree concerning 95 municipalities in the metropolis taken, while the positivity rate for tests increased, in the North, by nearly 16% in one week.

Same pattern in Nice. While Public Health France announced on July 31 an increase in admissions of patients with coronavirus in the Alpes-Maritimes, the mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, on August 2, issued a municipal decree imposing the wearing of masks. in the city's busiest outdoor spaces.

I asked the @ prefet06 to take a prefectural decree, from Monday midnight, in certain streets of the city, making the wearing of the mask obligatory in the public space, for all.⁰ If necessary I will take a municipal decree for the 'impose this Monday. # Nice06

Before her, Bayonne and Biarritz (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) had already subjected inhabitants and visitors to the obligation to wear a mask in certain areas, fearing a reflux of the epidemic, still very present in Spain, but also in the Bordeaux region.

Le Touquet (Pas-de-Calais), Saint-Brieuc and Saint-Malo (Côtes-d'Armor), Noirmoutier and La Rochelle (Charente-Maritimes), Mimizan (Landes), Canet-en-Roussillon (Pyrénées-Orientales) ... The vast majority of decrees made to impose the wearing of masks outdoors concern coastal towns, popular with holidaymakers during the peak tourist season. But in other cases, the mask is made compulsory due to a strong circulation of the virus, as in Mayenne, where 69 municipalities now require the wearing of a mask. According to the prefecture, the obligation applies "in all public places and public outdoor spaces within the perimeter delimited by the entry and exit signs of the city of the municipalities of Laval Agglomeration, of the community of communes of the Pays de Château-Gontier, of the community of communes of Érnée, as well as of the communes of Mayenne, Évron, Craon and Renazé, sectors more particularly affected by the virus ".

In Tours (Indre-et-Loire), the mask must be worn outdoors from August 7 between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. in a perimeter including Vieux-Tours and the banks of the Loire.

• Where the mask is mandatory in markets, or during summer events

For other cities, the obligation to wear a mask is limited for the moment to foreign markets. This is particularly the case for Caen (Calvados), Deauville (Calvados), Frontignan (Hérault), Brest (Finistère), Carnac (Morbihan), Cannes (Alpes-Maritimes), Blanquefort (Gironde), but also Ermont, Herblay and Beauchamp, in Val-d'Oise, a department classified as a "moderate vigilance zone" by Public Health France following an increase in the number of contaminations and hospitalizations linked to Covid-19. In this department of Île-de-France, the incidence rate, reflecting the number of new contaminations, reported to 100,000 inhabitants over a period of seven days, went from 8.09 on July 8, to 19.7 July 31.

Some municipalities have made wearing a mask compulsory for certain summer events. This is particularly the case of Cergy-Pontoise (Val-d'Oise), where wearing a mask has been compulsory since Saturday within the perimeter of the Île de Loisirs. In Nîmes, the prefect of Gard also imposes it in the Escutcheon - the historic center of the city - during the "Jeudis de Nîmes" [markets of second-hand dealers and local producers punctuated by musical scenes, Editor's note].

🎉 # JeudisdeNîmes🐊✨💃
😷This evening we don't forget our mask: a decree @ Prefet30 now makes it compulsory on the
Badge cThe other trendy accessory is the fan: pl. from the Chapter a range offered to dancers
😷Let's be # CrocosEnsemble🐊distanciation + barrier gestures🧼 pic.twitter.com/qfYzdsvEAw

In Béziers (Hérault), you will also need to wear a mask to attend outdoor events organized by the city during the summer.

Already compulsory in the covered market in the city center of Epinal (Vosges), the mask is now also required on the open-air markets which are held at Georgin Square, at the port, behind the St-Maurice basilica, and at Place d ' Avrinsart, indicates a press release from the City. "The shows of the festival 'Épinal bouge summer', organized this summer on Wednesday afternoons at the Parc du Château and Friday evenings at Place des Vosges are also concerned", specifies the text. "The same is true for all outdoor events where physical distancing is difficult to maintain."

In cities affected by the obligation to wear the mask outdoors, whatever the modalities, the measure is accompanied by penalties in the event of non-compliance. Not wearing a mask in a place where it is compulsory can be sanctioned with a 4th class fine, i.e. a fixed fine of 135 euros.

The summary of the week France 24 invites you to come back to the news that marked the week

Take international news everywhere with you! Download the France 24 application