It was a request of the Paris city Hall to fight the epidemic of Covid-19, which shows signs of recovery in the capital : require the wearing of a mask outdoors in high-traffic areas. Six days later, it is now done : the prefecture of police has made an order which makes it mandatory in certain streets and certain areas of Paris and the inner suburbs since Monday, August 10, at 8 o'clock in the morning.
The map of the areas concerned, as published in the weekend, is "scalable," says the Mayor. But the choice of the authorities are surprising : why not have included some busy streets, such as Champs-Elysées or the rue de Rivoli ? "It is [established] according to specific criteria : floor space, the influence of public facilities on the ground, the ability of the population to respect a distance of one metre... ", has defended Audrey Pulvar, assistant to the mayor of Paris, when questioned on Sunday by the media. She also assured : "there will be a display very clear at the entrance and at the exit of the areas concerned. "
also Read Paris : the list of outdoor locations where the mask becomes mandatory
" How could we guess ? "
On the banks of the Seine, entirely concerned in the event Paris Plages acts as a showcase for the measurement : a well visible display indicates that wearing a mask is mandatory. The agents of the town hall in charge of the safety patrol and remind the few onlookers who dared to brave the heat wave to come and roast on a lounge chair near the bitumen burning but have forgotten their mask. The cyclists who come to enjoy the quiet of the old road on the banks are also concerned. The PV of 135 euros pleuvront not immediately, the forces of law and order staking for the first few days on the pedagogy.
At the beginning of this street, the mask is not mandatory, but it becomes a few meters away, in the same street. © Thibaut Déléaz
Past this display, hard to find in the streets in the mask required and the other. The Marais district and its sidewalks narrow, crowded are not affected, apart from the rue des Francs-Bourgeois. There, no panel clearly indicates that wearing a mask is required, and almost nobody wears it. Pascale, who are shopping face to face with his two girls, grave of the clouds when you told him : "I didn't know that ! But how could one guess ? "
Inconsistency
In its extension, the rue des Francs-Bourgeois becomes the rue Rambuteau, the sidewalks being eroded by the terraces of cafes and very popular, but the mask is not mandatory. At least for a few tens of meters : the approach of the Halles, it is new. However, this is the only street bordering the mall to the 50 million visitors per year who is affected by the action : on the other side, to the south, no need to wear a mask in the rue Berger, and yet still so crowded and the same width.
On the north side of the Forum des Halles, rue Rambuteau (left), the mask is mandatory... but not on the south side, rue Berger (right). © Thibaut Déléaz / Point
what is there to lose, as these two passers-by who wonder at the desperate look the answer around them : "So there, I think you need to put on the mask, but I'm not sure..." again, by ignorance or simply by " too lazy to put to cross the street in 100 metres ", some people are wearing their protection. And, for those who have one, the heat wave does not help to keep it properly on the nose and the mouth.
Read also Under the nose or the chin... Our dangerous little arrangements with the mask
A little further on, rue Montorgueil, wearing a mask is again mandatory, across the street this time... or almost. The last 100 meters of the pedestrian street, where nothing changes except the name, which becomes the rue des Petits-Carreaux, the measurement no longer applies. "It is true that it is difficult to understand, recognize Inès. Rather than learn the map by heart, I believe that I am going to put all the time, at least I won't have any problem. "It may be that, after all, the purpose of the measure...
