Najwa, 32, a saleswoman in a perfumery and cosmetics store in the business district of La Défense, near Paris, insists on keeping her mask, even if it is no longer compulsory in shops. While many restrictions related to Covid-19 are lifted on Monday March 14, the 30-year-old remains marked by a recent conversation with a client: “She works at the hospital and said to me ‘No, you can keep your mask on, because a lot of people are still sick with Covid’. I work in the trade, there are a lot of customers. My colleague did the test and she has the Covid.”
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We continue our way in the pharmacy of Alexandre who also prefers to continue to work hidden: “We’re used to it so suddenly, it doesn’t necessarily bother us. It’s a meeting place where there are a lot of pathologies. So in the end, for us, it’s not so bad.”. The pharmacist is happy to have the choice, “to have this freedom of not having the mask”.
At the foot of the Grande Arche, we try to stop employees in a hurry. Are you going to keep your mask on at work? “Especially not. I can’t take it anymore“, breathes one of them. Another cowards crudely: “It pisses us off. We want to remove it”. Dropping the mask is for this young woman we meet, the opportunity to reconnect with makeup: “I bought my glosses, and everything. But it’s between us!”
There are also the followers of “neither yes nor no” : “I do not want to keep the mask, but I will only have it in large meetings. When we are a little tight with each other”, says an employee. “I do quite a bit of travel. I think I would be a good spreader if I were to catch it. I’m going to stay on the mask for my travels,” develops another follower of the precautionary principle.
These French explain why they will keep the mask despite the lifting of the obligation. Benjamin Illy’s report
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Margaux, owner of a food truck specializing in sandwich wraps, also wants to keep her nose and mouth covered: “Because I have bronchitis. I’m going to keep it because I have a somewhat fragile family around me. It’s more reassuring for customers too, I still think.”
“Me, I don’t ask my staff to keep him. I keep him because it’s my decision”.
Margaux, owner of a food truckat franceinfo
To leave the La Défense district, we take the metro and there, in public transport, there is no debate: the mask remains compulsory. In health establishments, it is also necessary to remain masked.