The executive is betting on the virtues of example. Emmanuel Macron put on a mask during a trip to Vienne, Thursday, December 8. Elisabeth Borne and the members of the government had done the same in the hemicycle of the National Assembly on Tuesday. “Let’s find the barrier gestures”summarized the ministers Clément Beaune and Agnès Firmin Le Bodo, photographing themselves masked in a train and a plane, on Twitter.
On the way to the trip to #whitefacing #COVID19let’s find the barriers gestures, let’s wear the mask in transport ???????????? . pic.twitter.com/XfZSawsMm9
— Agnes Firmin Le Bodo (@agnesfirmin) December 5, 2022
“It’s good to do pedagogy because we don’t want to return to generalized obligations necessarilyexplained the President of the Republic. It is also a way to resume habits based on volunteering and a spirit of responsibility. »
Faced with the new wave of Covid which has been rising for a fortnight, the government is increasing its calls for good citizenship. “We wear the mask when we are in an enclosed space, where there are a lot of people, and we have to get vaccinated”insisted the Prime Minister on Wednesday. “My method is to convince and trust the French”repeated the Minister of Health François Braun, Friday, December 9, on BFMTV-RMC.
“There will be deaths”, warns François Braun
These incitements do not seem to have been heard so far. In transport, the wearing of a mask remains very minority. It is no longer compulsory there since May 16, 2022, unlike in health establishments where it can still be imposed.
In fact, a large part of the French seem to have moved on. “Three years after the start of Covid, and despite the resurgence of cases for several days in France, the fight against the pandemic only appears to be a priority for a minority of French people (37% against 78% in August 2020)”, underlined Ifop in a poll on December 2. During this time, the contaminations go up under the effect of the new variant BQ1.1, which is transmitted more easily than the BA.5 (Omicron), without being more serious.
As for vaccination, it remains insufficient. Of the order of “23% among those aged 80 and over, 38% among those aged 60-79”, says the Ministry of Health. This is why the minister wants to wear a « message fort » towards the directors of nursing homes in order to protect the elderly, because “There will be deaths”.
The mandatory mask, an inflammable debate
However, the executive does not want to be too coercive. Aware of the weariness of the French, he does not want to reopen the debate on wearing a mask, despite the call from twelve patient associations to make it again “compulsory in crowded spaces”. But if the three epidemics of Covid, influenza and bronchiolitis get out of control, and if hospitals are saturated, the government will have to resort to restrictive measures. “My arm will not shake”warned François Braun, on December 4.
In reality, the executive wants to avoid a potentially inflammable debate in the Assembly, where it no longer holds an absolute majority. Especially since the question of the reintegration of unvaccinated caregivers stirs up tensions between political groups. The obligation to wear a mask would require legislation. Because since the end of the state of health emergency, on August 1, 2022, measures such as confinement, the health pass or the obligation to wear a mask can no longer be taken without the vote of a new law. The return of the obligation could however be decided by a decree of the Prime Minister.