Even if the spring sun and the easing of health measures since March 14, 2022 give the impression that the health crisis is over, wearing a mask in buses, coaches, trams, metros and trains remains compulsory.
The Covid-19 epidemiological situation update from the Normandy regional health agency of March 22, 2022 confirms this: the circulation of the virus is starting again with an increase in the incidence rate of + 38.8% in one week.
A figure that rises to +49.4% for the department of Seine-Maritime!
In this context of “epidemic rebound”, the health authorities recommend “keep the good reflexes acquired throughout the crisis”. And even if the health measures were lightened on March 14, the ARS recommends continuing to ventilate regularly, wash your hands often, use hydroalcoholic gel and isolate yourself at home as soon as symptoms appear or in positive test case.
If wearing a mask remains strongly recommended for people at risk of a severe form of Covid-19 and for people around them, it remains compulsory in public transport. In Rouen, as in other big cities, the buses are crowded at rush hour, passengers are glued to each other and ventilation is limited.
Hence the obligation to wear a mask. A surgical (or medical) mask is a (disposable) mask that protects others by preventing your breath from sending droplets into the air.
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After the end of the obligation to wear a mask in closed places subject to the health pass, then the end of the mask outdoors and in companies, many users of public transport nevertheless “forget” to wear their mask when getting into a bus or tram.
This is the case in Rouen, where around one in seven people is not (properly) masked.
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There are those who do not have one, those who wear it around their neck, those who bring it down to the lips, leaving their nose and mouth exposed, and those who adjust it under the nose ” to breathe better.
However, as our colleagues from France 3 Aquitaine pointed out to Doctor Pierre Parneix, doctor of public health and hospital hygiene at the Bordeaux University Hospital, the mask, to be useful, is worn on the nose:
“It is worn well above the nose. We see a lot of people with a mask under their nose. We often breathe through the nose so the virus will enter. And if you are sick, the place where there is the most virus is the nose, so you spread it everywhere.”
In this context of the relaxation of the wearing of masks and the resumption of the circulation of the virus, some consider that the lifting of the wearing of masks was done too soon.
This is the case of the epidemiologist Yves Buisson who, on France Info explained on March 23, 2022 what “This decision was taken by the general public as an announcement of the end of the pandemic. However, we can clearly see that this is not the case. The pandemic is not over and we must continue to respect barrier gestures and wearing a mask wherever necessary, especially for people at risk. They must continue to protect themselves. Insofar as the wearing of the mask is no longer compulsory, we must now change the doctrine.
Yves Buisson, who is also president of the Covid-19 cell at the National Academy of Medicine, adds that if wearing a surgical mask was a way to protect others, we must now adapt to the new situation:
“Now that everyone has taken off the mask, people at risk must wear an FFP2 type mask, which protects them.”
An FFP2 mask is an “airborne pathogen protective” mask that is typically used by people who work in a hospital or medical setting.
Pending an information and awareness campaign from public transport companies aimed at their customers, wearing an FFP2 mask on a bus would therefore be a way to avoid contamination.
Especially since a variant, Omicron BA2, is circulating, which, says Yves Buisson, is extremely transmissible: “It is sometimes even able to infect people who have already been infected with Omicron BA1. We are dealing with a very significant, very rapid upsurge, which has undoubtedly been underestimated. We should not be fooled by the fact that there are not many new hospital admissions or intensive care admissions: it will happen. We know that there is a gap between infections, contaminations and unfortunately, the occurrence of complicated forms.
So let’s not forget our mask and get covered in public transport!
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