“When it's hot, it's difficult to wear,” says Alexia, 22, before admitting that “it's still better than a re-containment”. It was under a sweltering heat of 38 degrees that the people of Lille learned the news this Friday: wearing a mask becomes compulsory from Monday at the first hour in many public places in the metropolis. Taken to cope with the resurgence of the coronavirus, this measure will come into force in parks, near stations, subways and airports, covered markets, the streets of pedestrian areas ... So many places where it will now be necessary to wear a mask, under penalty of being fined 135 euros.
If the wearing of the mask was until then strongly advised in the frequented areas, it is however far from being adopted. In the city center of Lille (North), this Friday afternoon, only a minority of passers-by wore one. A young man who wanted to enter a shop, without a mask, is moreover turned away by the security guard at the reception.
Even in the ranks of his supporters, the heat often won out. “Today I sometimes took it out in the street because it's hot”, recognizes Thomas, 18, “but in general, I wear it all the time in big cities, because my mother is one of the people at risk. , she suffers from multiple sclerosis ”.
This young florist believes that “this measure is a good thing. Most of the customers in my business do not respect the wearing of a mask, so you have to police but you don't always dare ”. However, he is not convinced that behavior will really change: “I live at the border and I see that in Belgium, despite the obligation arrived earlier than at home, many do not wear the mask. I recently went to a Belgian amusement park and no one had one. "
A measure deemed late
Others, like Angélique and her husband Fabien, find the measure reassuring, but too late. It must be said that the incidence rate of the virus (the number of confirmed cases per 100,000 inhabitants) has doubled in the last two weeks in the North, from 9.2 to 17.5. The heart of the Lille metropolis is even close to the alert threshold, which stands at 50. “I am one of the vulnerable people: during the two and a half months of confinement I did not go out at all. And to deconfinement, I went there gradually, I was almost afraid. The mask should have been imposed at that time, ”says this 40-year-old.
Finally, there are those who, like Corinne, 57, have a thought for the hospital staff. “I always have a mask on my nose to protect myself, because I have lung cancer, but I also think of caregivers. After what they have already experienced, it is difficult for them to envisage a second wave. The mask is normal, it is a question of good citizenship. We live in a society of spoiled children and I hope that this measure will change consciousness. "