The Paris police headquarters announced the return of the mask on Wednesday evening less than forty-eight hours later in the capital.

The mask must be worn by people over the age of 11, "with the exception of people circulating inside vehicles, cyclists and users of two-wheelers" or "people practicing a sporting activity" in streets and places open to the public, except Bois de Boulogne and Vincennes, she said in a press release.

The other prefectures of Ile-de-France have followed suit by announcing similar measures, the contours of which however diverge according to the departments.

The mask is again imposed in all the departments of Hauts-de-Seine, Val-de-Marne, Seine-Saint-Denis, in all the municipalities of Val-d'Oise (perimeter included between the panels entry and exit from the town) and Seine-et-Marne, in the towns of Essonne and in the center of the towns of Yvelines.

In a street in Lyon on August 22, 2020 PHILIPPE DESMAZES AFP / Archives

"It is necessary anyway there is no choice. To avoid contamination with Omicron all that, (...) it is a necessary evil", estimates Mohamed Ben Jemaa, 68, retired interviewed Thursday by AFP in Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis).

"I do not understand why we have to be forced to wear the mask, we are already doing the tests, we have a third dose," said Selphine Che, a 29-year-old beautician whose vaccinated mother has just caught the virus.

This air of déjà-vu is also spreading in other cities, with varying perimeters and durations according to prefectural decrees.

In Lyon or Villeurbanne, the mask is back as of this midnight Thursday for a period of three weeks, "except between 2:00 am and 6:00 am," said the Rhône prefecture in a press release.

In rue Sainte-Catherine in Bordeaux on November 27, 2021 Thibaud MORITZ AFP / Archives

With the exception of beaches and certain natural spaces, the mask will also be required in public spaces in Loire-Atlantique. In Tours (Indre-et-Loire), the obligation will only be valid in the city center from January 1, for one month.

Some decrees concern the South-West. In Charente-Maritime, the obligation to wear a mask outside is extended to 72 municipalities from Thursday until January 19, and concerns both La Rochelle and Ilian municipalities such as Ars-en-Ré or Dolus -Oléron.

In Dordogne, "in Périgueux, Bergerac and Sarlat, and in agreement with the mayors concerned, the wearing of a mask will be compulsory again from December 31 in the city center, and for a period of one month possibly renewable depending on the evolution of the health situation ", indicated the prefecture.

In Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, one of the regions with the highest incidence rate of the virus in metropolitan France, the mask is already a reality in the Var since December 11 and until January 7, on the whole public roads and places.

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Offenders are liable to a fine of 135 euros.

France is recording a record of Covid-19 contamination due to the Omicron "tidal wave", with 208,000 new cases on Wednesday, after around 180,000 during the previous twenty-four hours.

© 2021 AFP