End of the obligation to wear a mask outdoors in Toulouse
As Prime Minister Jean Castex announced on January 20, wearing a mask will no longer be compulsory outdoors in Haute-Garonne, including Toulouse, from this Wednesday February 2.
Following the announcement made by Jean Castex, Prime Minister, on January 20, the end of the obligation to wear a mask outdoors has sounded in Haute-Garonne. And this from this Wednesday, February 2. In Toulouse, wearing a mask was made compulsory again in the city center on January 5 following the outbreak of the fifth wave, and above all, the appearance of the Omicron variant.
Thus, as part of the new sanitary health measures by the government, Etienne Guyot, the prefect of Haute-Garonne, has just issued an order aimed at lifting the obligation to wear a mask outdoors, throughout the territory of the department, including included in Toulouse. He will enter in effect this Tuesday, February 1 at midnight.
For Jean-Luc Moudenc, mayor of the Pink City, this is a welcome relaxation of restrictions, but beware: “The lifting of the obligation to wear masquerade outdoors is a good signal but should in no way make us forget that the epidemic is still very active in Toulouse. I appeal to each of you: take care of yourselves. Respect barrier gestures“.
No longer mandatory but recommended, even outdoors
However, Etienne Guyot recalls that if the mask is no longer compulsory outdoors, “it is essential to maintain barrier gestures to limit at best the circulation of the virus still very active in the department“. Indeed, the incidence rate remains high in Haute-Garonne.
According to the latest figures from the Occitanie Regional Health Agency (ARS), the department records an incidence rate of 5219.7 to January 28, the highest in the region. 581 people are currently hospitalized for having contracted Covid-19, including 123 in intensive care or critical care.
Wearing a mask is therefore strongly recommended in public spaces where social distancing is not possible. The prefecture also recalls that there remains mandatory in establishments open to the public, even in open air spaces.