French local authorities will be able to impose the wearing of masks outdoors, in areas where the COVID-19 pandemic is on the rise, the French Minister of Health announced on Friday.
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“The prefects will now be able by decree to extend the obligation to wear a mask to open public places. This decision could be taken locally, depending on the evolution of the epidemic in each territory, ”Olivier Véran announced in a tweet.
This obligation had previously been announced by the prefect of the North, who had said that wearing a mask would be compulsory in the public space from Monday in “a number of areas” of the European metropolis of Lille.
At the municipal level, cities such as Biarritz and Bayonne (south-west), Saint-Malo (west) and Orléans (center) imposed on Thursday the wearing of the mask outdoors, in their center or in the markets.
Authorities warn of increased circulation of the coronavirus, nearly three months after lockdown ended and the summer encouraging festive outdoor gatherings.
They explain the need for the mask on the outside by the evidence that accumulates to say that Covid-19 is transmitted via fine droplets suspended in the air exhaled by patients (“aerosols”) and not only via the postilions.
The minister had already mentioned this possibility on Wednesday: “If you are in a street where there are several people going for a walk and you are not sure you can keep the distance, I recommend it,” he said.
France has recorded an increase of more than 1,300 cases in the past 24 hours.
Thursday evening, the health agency Public Health France (SpF) also noted a “marked increase in the number of new cases, 54% compared to the previous week,” particularly among 20-30 years “.