COVID-19: France makes masks mandatory in certain outdoor public places

Last month France announced a nationwide decree stating that all persons must wear masks or face coverings inside stores and other indoor public places. In addition to that, authorities have reportedly now made it mandatory for people to wear masks in certain outdoor spaces as well, such as Beach resorts along France's Atlantic coast, picturesque promenades on the Loire River and farmers markets in the Alps.

Towns and cities adopting outdoor mask policies

According to reports, the rules take effect from August 3 onwards. The government of France has also reportedly been under pressure to make masks mandatory all public places, not just specific outdoor public places.

As per reports, in recent weeks France has seen in a sharp rise in new coronavirus cases with hundreds of new clusters emerging. Most of the new clusters have been traced back to young people gathering at waterside cafes or dance parties and families get together.

Several towns and cities in France have also embraced the outdoor mask/face covering rule, 69 towns in the Mayenne region in western France as well as part of Lille city in northern France have imposed the outdoor mask rule.

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As per the John Hopkins Coronavirus resource centre, France has reported 225,198 positive COVID-19 cases since the beginning of the pandemic and has a death toll of 30,268. The deadly coronavirus which began in an illegal wet market in Wuhan, China last year has quickly spread all over the world, the virus named COVID-19 by the World Health Organisation has infected 18,080,067 people worldwide and the global death toll stands at 689,370.

France tests travellers on arrival

Starting August 1 passengers entering France from 16 most infected countries will have to undergo COVID-19 testing upon arrival at French airports and ports. If passengers test positive they are required to undergo a 14-day quarantine. The United States and Brazil, the countries with the highest number of reported coronavirus cases are on the list.

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