End of the mask outside: those places in France where it remains mandatory

“The prefectural decrees will therefore be amended from tomorrow to reflect this new rule of common sense.

"Jean Castex surprised everyone, Wednesday, by announcing the end of the obligation to wear the mask outside," except in certain circumstances "," when we regroup, when we are in a crowded place, a queue, in a market or on the stands of a stadium ”.

And Jean Castex to instruct the prefectures to take decrees in this direction.

"Public speaking is not law, and we must distinguish what is said and what emerges in the decree," explains Louis le Foyer de Costil, lawyer specializing in public law.

And the expert added: “The better the texts and the terms are defined, the less litigation is avoided.

"To regroup" and "crowded places"?

That left the citizens to interpret… What the entourage of the Prime Minister confirmed to the Parisian: “Everyone's discernment counts above all.

Everyone is able to understand what a regrouping situation is and to act with common sense accordingly.

"

The prefectures were confronted with the reality of the law and, in prefectural decrees dropped in droppings Thursday, had to define precisely the situations in which the mask was compulsory… at the risk of contradicting Jean Castex.

The obligatory mask in certain streets

Thus, the prefecture of Eure has defined in detail the areas where the mask remains mandatory outside, in addition to organized and planned gatherings (such as markets, flea markets, etc.).

Thus, it is “within a radius of 50 m” around the entrances and exits of stations when they are open, around shopping centers, places of worship during ceremonies and schools when entering and exiting classes. .

It is also available at bus stops.

The police headquarters in Paris adopted almost similar measures.

In Gironde, the prefecture has gone further. According to the decree, which Le Parisien was able to consult, the wearing of a mask remains obligatory "during a gathering of more than ten people whose concentration does not make it possible to maintain a physical distance greater than two meters between people". And the prefecture to add to the list two very commercial streets of Bordeaux - rue Sainte-Catherine and rue Porte Dijeaux - where the mask remains obligatory from 12 to 7 pm… Shopping there without a mask is therefore not for today.

In Lille (North) too, the mask remains mandatory when shopping in the city.

In its decree, the prefecture specifies the obligation to wear his mask “in pedestrian, permanent and temporary areas (

Editor's note: concerning in fact a large part of the city center

), on Saturdays and days of special events. a high concentration of people ”.

In Loire-Atlantique, it is in “busy streets and pedestrian areas” that wearing a mask remains compulsory, without the prefecture giving details of what a “very busy” street is.

The mask even on vacation

Same strategy in Ardèche and in the Landes where we want to guard against regrouping with the arrival of floods of tourists. In Ardèche, the mask therefore remains compulsory in “the areas of town centers, town centers and sites characterized by a high concentration of the public, when the rules of physical distancing cannot be respected”. In the Landes, we are not far from the map of the beginning of the mask obligation in Paris, mocked and criticized, where the mask was necessary in some streets and not in others. The prefecture has defined different streets in four municipalities, including Dax and Soorts-Hossegor, where the mask remains mandatory, "respect for distance (being) made difficult by the high attendance".

In the Hérault, the prefecture also lists “crowded streets and very busy pedestrian areas”, where the mask remains obligatory, at certain times of the day. In the hypercentre of Montpellier, for example, it is from Friday to Saturday, from 2 to 7 p.m. It is daily, at the same hours, in Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert, a small tourist town with narrow streets in the department. From 6 p.m. to 11 p.m., every day, the mask must be worn in certain streets of Cap d'Agde, Palavas-les-Flots and La Grande Motte.

In Vendée, where tourists should be numerous this summer, the mask remains mandatory "in all streets and pedestrian traffic at peak times when the density and the risk of prolonged contact are inevitable", but also "on the quays, embankments and seafronts fitted out at peak times ”. The Pyrénées-Orientales oblige it in "places of very high population concentration", "in particular queues and areas with very high tourist or commercial traffic". So we will not completely leave the mask anytime soon.