Mandatory masks outdoors suspended in Paris, called 'excessive interference on freedom'

Mandatory masks outdoors have been suspended by the Paris administrative court on Thursday 13 January after a similar decision was passed through the courts of Versaille the day before. The need to wear protective face coverings while in the open air had been in place since December 31.
The decision came after the ruling in Administrative Court of Versaille agreed with the case brought forward declaring the measure to be “excessive, disproportionate and an inappropriate interference […] on individual freedom”. The case in the region close to Paris was the first of its kind brought forward on French soil.
The decision concerning this prefecture order, initially instigated to deal with the emergence of the Omicron variant, will be published on Friday 14 January. When asked for comment on the ruling, the police headquarters reserved its right to comment.
“As it was neither necessary nor strictly proportionate, the administrative court wished to suspend the decree”, commented for his part Jean-Baptiste Soufron, who pleaded for the suspension of the mandate.
The decisions regarding mandatory masks outdoors come as France sees more than 300,000 cases a day and a rise in Covid hospitalisations. The Covid pass still remains strictly in use across the country although there have been mass protests surrounding furthering the scope of the documentation. The French President, Emmanuel Macron has drawn harsh criticism for saying he wanted to “piss off” the country’s unvaccinated citizens. In an interview with La Parisien, he said: “I really want to hassle them, and we will continue to do this – to the end.” He however did say that while he would not “vaccinate by force”, he hoped to encourage people to get jabbed by “limiting as much as possible their access to activities in social life”


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Claire Gordon

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