Limoges is one of the very few cities in France where the wearing of a mask is not compulsory, the prevalence rate of the Haute-Vienne department remaining below the average for New Aquitaine.

The mayor of the city is counting on the self-discipline of his constituents to avoid any outbreak of contaminations.

REPORT

Limoges is one of the only large French cities in which it is not compulsory to wear a mask in the streets, with rare exceptions.

These days, and after months of restrictions and constraints in the face of Covid-19, this situation has something to dream of.

The mayor intends to let his 132,000 citizens demonstrate self-discipline.

A resolution that seems to bear fruit insofar as the epidemic does not flare up there any more than elsewhere.

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"When it's too dense, when there are too many people, I put it back"

This heat, this spring breeze that caresses the face ... the inhabitants of Limoges have never lost them.

The very idea of ​​a compulsory mask seems to them an aberration.

"When there are not many people, in a fairly large perimeter, the risk is limited", argues a Limougeaud interviewed by Europe 1. In the streets, smiles are displayed, mouths open, teeth offered, synonyms of freedom . 

"I'm in college, and I have to keep the mask on for six to eight hours a day. So, as soon as you go out, it's a pleasure to take it off", explains a student.

But some prefer to keep it all the time.

"When you are no longer 20, the risks are no longer the same," says an octogenarian.

And almost everyone has it in their pocket, ready to take it out!

“I have the mask around my neck, and when it's too dense, there are too many people, I put it back on”, assures a resident.

As long as epidemic data allows

"I bet on intelligence and I bet on citizenship", proclaims the mayor of the city, Emile-Roger Lombertie.

This trained doctor says he wants to do educational work and describes in particular the difficulty of controlling offenders in the case of a generalized and absolute obligation.

"I took orders to make it clear that wherever there were [high] population densities, it was necessary to put on the mask [...] but that for individuals finding themselves in an area where they were all alone, it was not necessary to wear the mask. "

Wearing a mask is therefore compulsory in markets, in and around schools, in queues, in shops, under the halls.

For Emile-Roger Lombertie, self-discipline should be encouraged as long as the epidemic data allow it.

"Every morning we receive national and local data on the epidemic. We know where we are," he explains to Europe 1. And for the time being, the departmental prevalence rate, with 131 infected per 100,000 inhabitants, remains below the average for Nouvelle-Aquitaine.