"Can you imagine me sunbathing with a mask, after the already gloomy year we just spent?
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Like Léa, a young Parisian in her thirties, many French people intend to make the most of the coming summer without having to cover their faces, in particular at the beach.
This Tuesday morning, Olivier Véran opened the door to a reduction in the wearing of the compulsory mask outdoors, imposed in much of the country.
"I sincerely hope that it will be this summer", indicated the Minister of Health on Europe 1.
Without waiting for a national instruction, several prefects (who are responsible for making such a decision by decree) have already taken the plunge. In the Alpes-Maritimes, for example, wearing a mask is no longer compulsory since Tuesday in parks, gardens, on beaches and at the edges of water bodies. The authorities took note of it because of the marked improvement in the epidemiological situation.
In the neighboring Bouches-du-Rhône or in the North, in particular, the mask remains appropriate “for anyone eleven years of age or over who is on the public highway”, and therefore in particular at the beach.
"Some town halls or certain prefectures in areas with high circulation of the virus have imposed the wearing of the mask, without necessarily distinguishing the beach from the busy downtown street", notes Didier Lepelletier, co-chair of the permanent Covid-19 group within the High Council of Public Health (HCSP).
Limited risks outdoors
Last summer, the mask had gradually imposed itself in the public space of many municipalities. But knowledge has been refined in the meantime: scientists now agree that the possibility of contamination by SARS-CoV-2 is very limited outdoors, while closed places are more threatening.
Epidemiologist Antoine Flahault even qualifies this risk as "extremely marginal".
“In an outdoor environment, aerosols [micro-droplets potentially containing the virus, Editor's note] exist but they dilute in the atmosphere very quickly.
I think there is no risk, except in the theoretical case of a person spitting on you nearby, ”describes the director of the Institute for Global Health at the University of Geneva.
A fierce "ayatollah of the mask indoors", he considers that imposing it outdoors is "nonsense".
In Ireland, for example, only 0.1% of positive cases originate in the open air, according to the Health Protection Surveillance Center (HPSC).
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However, not all scientists are so categorical.
“On a beach, natural ventilation and the wind help to disseminate droplets and reduce viral density.
But if there are a lot of people, it is better to keep the mask ”, nuance Didier Lepelletier, who lives near the Loire-Atlantique coast.
“Whatever my opinion as a scientist, you have to be reasonable.
When people go to the beach this summer, the mask is bound to jump and we must expect that vigilance will be relaxed.
But we have to be careful and say that there is no such thing as zero risk, ”says the virologist at Sorbonne University Vincent Maréchal.
Hope with vaccination
What will really make it possible to envisage a summer without a mask in the open air, and in particular at the beach, is the progress of vaccination.
By June 15, the government hopes to reach 30 million people who have received at least one injection, or more than one in two adults.
In the United States, the outdoor mask was abolished (except in the presence of crowds) when half of adults had received a first dose and a third were fully vaccinated.
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“When we are at 60% of the population vaccinated [with at least one dose], we will have a sufficient impact on transmission. If the epidemiological situation continues to improve and if there are no unforeseen factors such as a break in the vaccine production chain or the emergence of a new variant, the mask can be removed this summer, in starting with the less frequented outdoor areas ”, advises Didier Lepelletier cautiously. A recent opinion of the HCSP is content to advocate a relaxation of the wearing of the mask in the "private family or friendly environment in a closed environment", provided that all those present are vaccinated.
Regarding a complete lifting of barrier gestures and a return to normal life, the Institut Pasteur estimates that it will be necessary to reach 90% of the vaccinated adult population, or at least 90% of those over 65 and over. 60% of those under 65, including children. Prospects that still seem very distant.