Covid-19: wearing a mask indoors relaxed from February 28 – Le Monde

This is a new step in the schedule for easing health restrictions. From February 28, the mask will no longer be compulsory in closed places subject to the vaccination pass, announced the Ministry of Health Olivier VéranFriday February 11, arguing “Improvement of the health situation”. A decision based on an opinion from the High Council for Public Health issued on February 11. Note that transport and closed places not subject to the pass, such as companies, are not affected by this announcement.

Wearing a mask was no longer compulsory outdoors since February 2. At the end of February, it will therefore no longer be in establishments intended for leisure activities, restaurants, cinemas, museums, etc., which now require a pass at the entrance. On this date, France will have checked in “four weeks of continuous decline in incidence”, indicates rue de Ségur.

Unsurprisingly, this announcement was welcomed by culture professionals. “This is good news, the signal that we can resume a normal life. This will allow our audience to return more massively to theaters,” wants to believe Marc-Olivier Sebbag, general delegate of the National Federation of French Cinemas. The situation for exhibitors remains very critical: since the beginning of the year, the number of admissions has fallen by 45% compared to the same period of 2019.

“Every week, between people who tested positive and contact cases, you have five million French people who cannot go to the cinema. If you add the five million unvaccinated, you understand why our attendance is falling so sharply, ” believes Mr. Sebbag. As to whether the lifting of the obligation to wear a mask risks frightening certain spectators, the professionals assure that it will always be possible to come masked to the show or to the cinema. “But it will be left to the discretion of each.”

Virus circulation remains high

Another reduction concerns the screening of people who have had contact with a person who tested positive. At the end of February, they will only have to carry out a single test (self-test, antigen test, or RT-PCR) on “D2”, i.e. two days after being informed that they were a contact case. Until now, it was necessary to carry out three of them (on D0, D2 and D4).

These relaxations are announced while, on the health front, “a slowdown in the circulation of SARS-CoV-2 has been confirmed on national territory” for the week of January 31 to February 6, reports Public Health France (SpF). The incidence rate was then 2,449 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, i.e. “a decrease of 29%” compared to the previous week. This decline was observed in all regions and in all age groups, but less markedly among those aged 60 and over. “While a decline also seemed to be beginning in hospital admissions, the pressure there still remained high,” adds SpF. More recent figures, for the week of February 2 to 8, reveal an incidence rate of 1,964 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, down 37%. However, the circulation of the virus remains high, with 158,323 daily cases, on average, over the week of February 4 to 11.

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