To put on or not to put on the mask: this is the question that now arises at the entrance of any place, in these times of Covid-19.
All the more so since the entry into force of the health pass.
And on that, there is the rule and the (many) exceptions.
In theory, since August 9, the mask is no longer mandatory - for visitors - in places where the health pass is required (restaurants, museums, cinemas, theaters ...).
Ditto since August 30 for employees.
Long-distance transport, such as airplanes, coaches and TGVs, however, is not concerned.
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The decree of August 7 also offers room for maneuver to the prefects.
"
The wearing of a mask can however be made compulsory by the prefect of the department when the local circumstances justify it
", one can read there.
A right also conferred on "
the operator or the organizer
".
Two days after the application of this decree, the government had already changed its strategy.
During a press conference, the spokesperson for the executive Gabriel Attal asked the prefects of the departments where the incidence rate of Covid-19 exceeded 200 cases per 100,000 inhabitants over seven days "to restore the obligation wearing a mask indoors in establishments open to the public subject to the health pass ”.
Numerous prefectural decrees
At the time, nearly 40 departments, especially located in the southern half of the country, were experiencing such epidemic circulation.
In these, the mask was therefore restored at least until mid-September, sometimes even until December, according to the Union of Trades and Hospitality Industries (Umih), the main union of Restoration.
Several of its local branches have sent letters to the prefects demanding that they reconsider their decision.
The last letter to date was sent to the prefect of Bas-Rhin, for her decree taken on August 31.
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Some establishment operators have also decided to continue to request the mask from their visitors. As for cinemas, the main cinema circuits (Gaumont Pathé, UGC, CGR, Kinepolis) have maintained this obligation. As for museums and monuments, the mask remains compulsory to visit a Paris Museums establishment, which brings together the museums of the City of Paris (Carnavalet Museum, Catacombs, Petit Palais ...), of the National Monuments Center (Castle and ramparts of the city of Carcassonne, Abbey of Cluny, Cathedral Basilica of Saint-Denis, Arc de Triomphe ...) or to take a tour of the Mucem in Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhône). Moral of the story, the mask should remain an essential accessory for the French for a long time to come.