In the street, at school, and in offices, this re-entry will be masked.
This Tuesday, September 1, the mask becomes mandatory in companies, the last place where this obligation was not yet applied.
The stake is clear: to limit the spread of Covid-19 while the number of new contaminations has continued to increase since mid-summer, especially in offices.
But how do you endure wearing a mask for seven to eight hours (or even more) a day?
Many employees have been asking the question since the government's announcement this summer.
Itchy mask, skin problems, wearing of glasses… The little hassles of this barrier, some employees, such as nursing staff, or employees in contact with the public, have already known them for several months.
Like Chloé *, tobacconist in the Center region, who had to put it on when deconfinement.
A difficult adaptation for the young woman of 31, asthmatic.
"I am masked from 7 am to 7 pm", she confides.
Consequence: she quickly feels the "heat in the face, which rises in pain in the head", which sometimes ends in "small dizziness in the long run".
Frequent breaks and changes
The heat is also the main drawback pointed out by Laetitia, who works in an engineering company in Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhône).
“With perspiration, the mask sticks because of the heat.
If there is no air conditioning or if I have to go outside, it quickly becomes very unpleasant, ”she says.
Communication with colleagues is also more complicated: "It is necessary to speak louder, but in the end, it is also the case all day away from work," she adds.
Faced with the galleys, these employees have already implemented some tips.
“I have lovely and understanding bosses,” says Chloe.
“They let me take five minutes to get some fresh air every two hours or so.
I also have the ventoline handy, for when I feel suffocated, ”she explains.
Laetitia also keeps some tips under the elbow.
“I multiply the coffee breaks outside to have moments without a mask,” she admits.
“I change my mask more than every four hours if I'm hot: I do it as soon as I sweat after washing my face.
"La Marseillaise would especially like teleworking to be generalized to make things easier and avoid contact with colleagues as much as possible.
"In the Bouches-du-Rhône, the cases are far too numerous, and over the last two weeks, there have been several contact cases in the office, and even a colleague who has Covid-19", worries- she does.
A "second skin"
According to the Minister of Labor, Elisabeth Borne, teleworking "remains a recommended practice, a fortiori when you are in areas where the virus circulates a lot", because "it makes it possible to be less numerous in the workplace, it avoids take public transport when you are in a large metropolis, ”she said on Sunday.
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Caregivers are already well used to wearing masks.
It's almost like a "second skin", says Isabelle, a nurse employed in a penitentiary center in Switzerland.
“I've been wearing it for up to twelve hours a day for a few months, so I got used to it,” she explains.
Admittedly, the mask is sometimes uncomfortable for the nurse: it does not always stay correctly in place, and it is sometimes difficult to limit contact when wearing glasses.
But she refuses to stigmatize this barrier of protection considered essential.
“We don't think about it, but we spit, and when you are close to a patient for treatment, the mask protects everyone.
I worked for a while in the operating room and everyone has them, ”says the Savoy nurse.
His solution to better support it?
Relativize.
“I tell myself that it's still not too hard as a protective measure.
It's less terrible than being sick, or under treatment.
And then it also protects against other viruses.
[…] It does not hinder freedom.
Containment, yes.
"
* The first name has been changed.