Residents in the capital city of France will be required to wear masks following a surge in COVID-19 cases.
On Thursday, French Prime Minister Jean Castex outlined 21 regional “red zone” regions in France, including Paris, where mask mandates will be used to curb the spread of the virus that has strained hospital capacities in countries around the world.
“The epidemic is gaining ground, and now, we must intervene,” Castex said. He added that France “must do everything to avoid a new confinement.”
Officials in the southern coastal city of Marseille will join Paris in instituting a mask mandate as more than 50 positive tests per 100,000 people have been recorded in both regions, according to French health officials.
At the same time that mask mandates are being adopted, there have been no delays or cancellations announced for the more than 12 million students who will return to French schools next week.
Paris police officials announced the mask mandate will go into effect at 8 a.m. local time on Friday morning. According to a Johns Hopkins University coronavirus tracker, more than 30,000 people infected with the COVID-19 virus have died in France, making it the hardest-hit country in Europe outside of Britain and Italy.
