The mask, which was supposed to be compulsory again in public transport in the metropolis of Nice from Monday, will ultimately not be compulsory, following a decision by the administrative court, which suspended the measure.
“I took my decree with other mayors of the metropolis of Nice (…) so that everyone from Monday wears the mask in a compulsory way”, on the 2,500 km of the bus and tram network, announced Wednesday on RTL the mayor of Nice Christian Estrosi (ex-LR), to face a seventh wave “which is soaring”.
The mayor of Nice is thus going further than the government which, for the moment, only recommends wearing a mask in public transport.
For Mr. Estrosi, the government “will be forced to come to this, because 200,000 more cases in less than 24 hours, we can clearly see that we are on a 7th wave which is skyrocketing and which is bringing us towards a return to school high risk”.
As a reminder, the government has still not taken a decision regarding a possible rehabilitation of the compulsory wearing of a mask, reports Ouest-France.
On Tuesday, the new Minister of Health, François Braun, encouraged the second vaccination reminder (4th dose) for the most fragile and recommended wearing a mask “in crowded places”.
The administrative court suspends the wearing of masks in transport
Wearing a mask will ultimately not be compulsory on public transport in Nice from Monday. The administrative court indicated in a press release this Friday that it had suspended the decree taken by Christian Estrosi, reports France info.
The court maintains in particular that the health situation in Nice does not justify the adoption of a measure different from that in force at the national level: “The existence of compelling reasons specific to the municipality making it essential to enact the disputed measure ( …) has not been demonstrated, the mayor therefore not being able to exercise his general police power in place of the state authorities”, writes the court in its press release.
An attack on personal freedom
The judge in chambers also ruled that the decree adopted by the mayor of the city constitutes an attack on the personal freedom of each and the freedom to come and go, this measure being able to impact people not residing in Nice. According to the court, such a measure is not “not appropriate, proportionate and necessary“.
See also: Masks responsible for more Covid deaths, study finds
Article updated Friday, July 8 at 6:25 p.m.