PARIS (Reuters) – Wearing masks in some areas of Paris was forced on Monday as part of a drive to crack down on COVID-19 infections, but some tourists appeared to be confused about what the new rule meant is to apply.
FILE PHOTO: A woman wears a protective face mask on Trocadero Square near the Eiffel Tower in Paris, as France intensifies wearing a mask as part of efforts to revive coronavirus (COVID-19) disease across the country, August 9, to limit 2020. REUTERS / Benoit Tessier
A detailed list of more than 100 mandatory zone-bearing zones includes the popular Montmartre district, with its narrow streets, and the banks of the River Seine, but excludes other famous tourist destinations such as the Eiffel Tower, the Champs Elysees and the enormous shopping area of Les Halles.
‘It’s not clear at all. We are tourists, so we do not know in which zones we should wear a mask, “said Dominico Ditoma, a French tourist visiting Montmartre with his family.
“We assume it’s for tourist spots, but there are no signs that it’s pretty obscure.”
A foreign tourist who gave her name as Angelica was also unsure: “I heard about it, it starts in the morning, but I do not know about the zones, I do not know how I will be informed.”
Anyone aged 11 and over faces a fine of 135 euros ($ 159) if caught without a mask where one is required. City Hall official Audrey Pulvar defended the complex mask card – which is available on the city’s website – saying it “evolved” and was based on criteria such as the ability of people in a given space to comply with social distance rules to meet.
“That’s why in some streets parts are affected by the measure and parts are not,” Pulvar said on BFM TV.
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France, like some other European countries, has recently seen a spike in new COVID-19 infections, causing fears of a second wave. It reported 2,288 new infections last Friday, a new post-lockdown high, with the seven-day moving average at 1,486, a level unseen since late April.
People have been required since July 21 to wear face masks in all closed public spaces in France.
The latest uptick in COVID-19 cases is most marked in Paris, but some other cities, including Toulouse, Biarritz, Marseille and Lille, have already ordered people to wear masks in busy open areas.
Some people were warmly welcomed that the requirement of wearing the mask was extended to some busy open areas in Paris.
“(It’s) a good thing … so we don’t get infected easily,” said Delphine, a Paris resident.
Report by Thierry Chiarello and Yann Tessier, Written by Benoit Van Overstraeten; Edited by Gareth Jones
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