Wearing a mask was already compulsory in certain districts of Marseille. - SOPA Images / SIPA / SIPA

The obligation to wear the mask will be extended from Sunday in Marseille and in several large cities and tourist towns of Bouches-du-Rhône, a department where the circulation of Covid-19 is "active", announced the prefect on Saturday. Already compulsory since August 8 in certain districts of the second largest city in France, especially around the Old Port, the wearing of the mask will be extended to all of the first seven districts of Marseille - the most central - (which has 16) , said Pierre Dartout during a press conference.

Two types of municipalities are targeted by the decree: "the most important municipalities of the department which have an attractive and dense center", such as Aix-en-Provence and Arles, but also the most tourist municipalities, which either on the shores of the Mediterranean, such as Cassis, La Ciotat, Carry-le-Rouet, or inland such as Saint-Rémy-de-Provence and Baux-de-Provence.

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Fourteen municipalities in all are concerned and, for each, "the perimeter has been delimited in agreement with the mayors". The obligation is also extended “to the outdoor spaces of shopping centers such as Plan-de-Campagne”, a large shopping area near Marseille.

Upcoming control operations

From Monday, police reinforcements are expected throughout the department and 703 control operations will be carried out, announced Denis Mauvais, chief of staff of the prefect of police, who added that "tickets have already been drawn up in Marseille" . The department, like Paris, this week exceeded an "alert threshold" according to the deputy director of the Regional Health Agency, Sébastien Debeaumont. On August 15, the incidence rate of the virus in the Bouches-du-Rhône is 58.40 per 100,000 inhabitants, against 47.1 per 100,000 a week earlier.

"It is clear that several ingredients continue to deteriorate indicators in the department, on the one hand the tourist dimension but also the fact that many inhabitants have decided to spend the holidays here", indicated Sébastien Debeaumont. The prefect has also issued an order requiring anyone over 11 to wear a mask "when they are in a waiting area to access public transport by land, river or sea", such as bus stops .

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  • Marseilles
  • Covid 19
  • Coronavirus