France mandates mask-wearing in all indoor places frequented by public

In order to contain the further spread of the coronavirus in the country, France has made it compulsory to wear a face mask indoors in public places from this week, the government said in its order on Thursday, July 16. Prime Minister Jean Castex said that the wearing of the mask which was obligatory on collective transport until now will become compulsory in all indoor places frequented by the public.

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Previously President Emmanuel Macron revealed he wanted to introduce the measure in a bid to contain the spread of coronavirus. Macron initially set August 1 as the deadline for the face mask rule, however, the deadline had to be preponed in the view of the case rise.

The France authorities have also ordered people to start wearing face masks in parts of the northwestern French region of Mayenne on Thursday after a rise of coronavirus infections were reported there. The Mayenne prefecture said masks would be mandatory in its main city Laval as well as five other municipalities: Bonchamp-lès-Laval, L’Huisserie, Changé, Louverné and Saint-Berthevin. French Health Minister Olivier Véran told a radio network that 'the situation in Mayenne is problematic'.

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COVID-19 situation in France

France has reported a total of 174,674 coronavirus cases out of which 30,152 people have succumbed to the lethal infection. 79,233 patients have successfully recovered from the disease. The country has 65,289 total active cases out of which 64,812 (which is about 99 percent of the active cases) people are in mild condition and 477 patients which are the remaining 1 percent of the active cases are in serious or critical condition, according to data by worldmeter.

The closed cases figures include 109,385, out of which 72 percent i.e 79,233 patients were recovered/discharged and 28 percent i.e 30,152 died as per the data.

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