Paris, June 28 (BNA): The French must start wearing masks again in crowded areas, especially on public transport, as France has to deal with a new wave of infections with the emerging coronavirus fueled by new types of the disease, Health Minister Brigitte Bourguignon. He said on Monday.
“I’m not saying it should be mandatory, but I’m asking the French to wear a mask on public transport,” she told RTL, adding that doing so was a “civil duty.”
“I am not only advising it, I am asking for it,” face masks must also be worn again in other closed areas, such as workplaces or stores.
France reported 17,601 new coronavirus infections in the past 24 hours, the highest number for Monday since April 18.
Five days ago, France’s head of vaccination, Alain Fischer, confirmed that the country was in the midst of a new wave of COVID-19, like other European countries, adding that he was personally in favor of the mandatory re-wearing of a face mask on public transport.
New infections have risen steadily since the end of May in France, with the seven-day average movement of daily new cases more than quadrupling between the May 27 figure of 17,705 and Monday’s 71,018.
However, that total is still five times lower than the record high of 366,179 at the start of the year.
The number of people hospitalized with the disease fell to a six-month low of 13,876 on June 18, but has since risen by 1,223 to 15,099, a four-week high.
There is usually a two-week delay between cases and hospital treatment trends and then a similar delay in terms of COVID deaths.
The number of Covid deaths in France rose by 48 over a 24-hour period on Tuesday, to 149,406.
MI