Parisian bikers are no longer obliged to wear a mask under their helmets due to the upsurge in Covid-19, on condition that they travel with the visor down, the Paris Police Prefecture (PP) announced this Sunday, after an appeal from the Federation of Angry Bikers (FFMC).
Read also: Bikers wind up against the mask
The PP said "
take note
" of an order on Friday from the judge of summary proceedings (emergency) of the administrative court and added that it would integrate this "
precision
" in a new decree which will come into force Monday at noon.
Wearing a mask is mandatory outdoors throughout the capital since a decree taken on August 27 to deal with the resurgence of the coronavirus epidemic in Ile-de-France.
Only cyclists and joggers had benefited from an exemption, at the request of the town hall.
Several biker organizations had denounced on September 1 in a joint statement a "
decision as absurd as dangerous
" and called for an alignment of their situation with that of cyclists.
Visor covered with mist
"
The imposition of the wearing of a mask on the motorcyclist is clearly incompatible with that of a motorcycle helmet, a helmet equipped with a protective visor which is covered with mist as soon as it is in the closed position
", wrote the FFMC , the French Motorcycling Federation (FFM) and the International Automobile and Motorcycle Union Chamber (CSIAM) in particular.
The FFMC then appealed to the administrative court and won its case on Friday.
In Île-de-France, 2,500 people with Covid are in hospital and 250 in intensive care, an occupation of around 20% of beds, said Aurélien Rousseau, the director general of the regional health agency ( ARS), who expects "
high tension in 15 days / 3 weeks
".
