Corona-virus. Should we impose the wearing of masks in public spaces?

As the relaxation of barrier gestures becomes widespread and the virus continues to circulate in the world, the question of imposing the wearing of masks in public space arise again.

“I am struck by the relaxation of part of the French population, not respecting hand washing, wearing a mask or distancing." These words are signed by Professor Jean-François Delfraissy. The President of the Scientific Council is alarmed by the gradual abandonment of barrier gestures while the coronavirus continues to circulate and the possibility of a second wave of epidemic is becoming more and more certain. To try to contain it, the hypothesis, previously rejected by the government, to impose the wearing of the mask in public space is again on the table. But then, should we really impose it on the population?

Imposing the mask, a symbol more than a utility

For Catherine Hill, a retired epidemiologist who works on the Covid-19 epidemic, this is clearly not a priority: "to impose the wearing of the mask in public space, it will annoy everyone and it will not walk too much."



Making this decision would be more cosmetic and symbolic than anything else, she said. Everyone would have their mask outdoors but in meals with friends or family vacations, the masks would be quickly abandoned. "In dense public spaces like markets, for example, this is justified but otherwise, outdoors it does not make much sense," said Catherine Hill.

Like the government, she considers that the mask cannot be the panacea and must be seen as one of the barrier gestures with physical distancing and regular hand washing. She would however see a real interest in imposing the mask in closed spaces.

"Tests are much more important than masks"


If the mask is not the solution, what to do to counter a second wave? The epidemiologist in his opinion on the matter." The most important thing is to find out where the virus is circulatingTo find out, you have to test massively. Currently, the capacity is 700,000 tests per week but only 450,000 are carried out.




For Catherine Hill, this is the method that sins: "sending Social Security vouchers by inviting the population to go and get tested, it does not work. You have to go out and meet the population, tell them about the importance of getting tested because the virus is actively circulating near them. Then you have to perform the tests and finally isolate those who are contaminated”. A process that has proven itself in Beijing when a new outbreak of contamination in the Chinese capital burst into existence. According to the researcher, there is no doubt: "the tests are much more important than the masks”.

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