The Minister of Health spoke on BFM on Monday, May 17. During his interview, he returned to the issue of wearing a mandatory mask outdoors. Measure that could be revised if the numbers of the epidemic continue to fall.
Already questioned about wearing a mask during the first stage of confinement, the Minister of Health Olivier Véran once again faced the question of the obligation to continue to wear the mask outdoors.
On the eve of the second stage of deconfinement, and even if the sunny days are still slow to arrive, many French people are wondering if they will have to wear their mask this summer outdoors, especially at the beach.
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We all hope we can take the mask off. But before that we must make sure that the health situation and the progress of vaccination allow us to do so. We will remain cautious. @BFMTV pic.twitter.com/FzAo03tzlN
– Olivier Véran (@olivierveran) May 17, 2021
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The risk is lower outdoors
If wearing a mask is still mandatory even outdoors, the Minister of Health has recognized that being outside, combined with being vaccinated, significantly reduces the risks.
According to him, France should “soon” reach the stage where the obligation should be abandoned for the outside world.
“When you are vaccinated you have almost no risk of contamination and you are outside, there the risk is considered to be much lower.”
“We will get there quickly”
In terms of the circulation of the virus, the figures seem encouraging, since the level of contamination is lower and France has fallen below the 100 death mark for the first time this year the day before.
“We are not going to ask the French to keep the mask on the beach or on their deck chairs this summer,” said Olivier Véran, who nevertheless recalled that at present, the obligation remained.
“But if the virus continues to drop well and we find ourselves in the same situation as last summer, we will quickly get there.”
Adapt the obligation to the situation?
“If you are alone or a few in a very large space, very ventilated like a beach, a mountain, a forest, a park, a deserted street, then you must be able to be quickly brought back” on the obligation, he indicates.
“We must be careful”, for the moment we continue to vaccinate, to bring down the virus, we are gradually deconfining (…) then comes the summer we will look at the situation as it is, what is the level of circulation of the virus, the level of protection of the French “.
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