A panel requiring the wearing of a mask (illustration).

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SYSPEO / SIPA

Towards an end to the widespread wearing of masks in Hauts-de-Seine?

On Wednesday, the Cergy-Pontoise administrative court ruled that the order taken by the prefect “immediately undermined the freedom to come and go and the personal freedom of people”.

In short, that it was illegal.

The summary judge therefore asked the prefect to define - before this Thursday 4 p.m. - areas in which the wearing of a mask could be exempted.

Otherwise, the order will simply be suspended.

Since August 31, the wearing of a mask is compulsory in the entire Hauts-de-Seine department for all people over 11 years old.

The only exceptions are people with disabilities with a medical certificate, cyclists and runners.

To justify this measure, the prefecture highlighted the demographic density of the department - the second in the territory - and the rapid increase in the incidence of Covid-19.

At the end of August, it crossed the threshold of 100 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, where the alert threshold is set at 50. The objective was then to slow the progression of the coronavirus.

Significant differences in population density

The court if it recognizes the specificity of this department, nevertheless considers that "all the communes of the Hauts-de-Seine department are not characterized by the same concentration of population".

If the average population density is today just over 9,100 inhabitants per km², it is difficult to compare the situation of Levallois-Perret (32,000 inhabitants per km²), Montrouge (24,500) or Courbevoie (20,800) with that de Nanterre (7,800), Rueil-Malmaison (5,200) or Gennevilliers (3,700).

The least populated city of the department, Marnes-la-Coquette, has a density of less than 600 people per km².

The summary judge “therefore considers that the prefect could not impose the wearing of a mask in general throughout the department without taking into account the characteristics of the various municipal territories”.

By not exempting any area from the obligation to wear a mask, the prefect therefore "seriously and clearly illegal interference with the freedom to come and go", considers the administrative court.

In addition, he believes that the exemption from wearing a mask should be generalized to "all people practicing physical and sporting activities in the open air".

On the other hand, the absence of schedules where wearing a mask is compulsory is validated in order to allow a better readability of the decree.

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