WITH HOSPITALIZATIONS UP, FRANCE WEIGHS RETURN TO MASK WEARING

Officials stop short of renewing restrictions, face-covering mandates

Tourism is booming again in France — and so is COVID-19. French officials have “invited” or “recommended” people to go back to using face masks but stopped short of renewing restrictions that would scare visitors away or revive anti-government protests.

From Paris commuters to tourists on the French Riviera, many people seem to welcome the government’s light touch, while some worry that requiring prevention measures may be needed.

Virus-related hospitalizations rose quickly in France over the past two weeks, with nearly 1,000 patients with COVID-19 hospitalized per day, according to government data. Infections are also rising across Europe and the United States, but France has an exceptionally high proportion of people in the hospital, according to Our World in Data estimates.

French government spokesperson Olivia Gregoire has said there are no plans to reintroduce national regulations that limit or set conditions for gathering indoors and other activities.

“The French people are sick of restrictions,” she said Wednesday. “We are confident that people will behave responsibly.”

France’s parliamentary elections last month resulted in President Emmanuel Macron losing his majority in the national legislature, while parties on the far right and the far left that had protested his government’s earlier vaccine and mask rules gained seats.

After the prime minister last week recommended that people resume wearing masks on public transportation, commuter Raphaelle Vertaldi said, “We need to deal with the virus, but we can’t stop living because of it.”

Vertaldi, who was boarding a train in Boussy-saint-antoine south of Paris, said she opposed mandated mask use but would comply if the government requires it.

Hassani Mohammed, a postal worker in Paris, didn’t wait for the government to decide. He masks up before his daily commute. With his wife recovering from surgery and two children at home, he does not want to risk contracting the coronavirus a third time.

“I realized that the pandemic does not belong to the past,” Mohammed said.

Masks have been contentious in

France. Early in the pandemic, the government suggested masks weren’t helpful. It ultimately introduced some of Europe’s toughest restrictions, including a mask mandate that lasted more than a year.

A Paris court ruled Tuesday that the French government failed to sufficiently stock up on surgical masks at the start of the pandemic and to prevent the virus from spreading. The administrative court in Paris also ruled that the government was wrong to suggest early on that masks did not protect people from becoming infected.

The government lifted most virus rules by April, and foreign tourists have returned by land, sea and air to French Mediterranean beaches, restaurants and bars.

In the meantime, French hospitals are struggling with long-running staff and funding shortages. Local officials are contemplating new measures, including an indoor mask mandate in some cities, but nothing that would curb economic activity.

MICHEL EULER AP People wear face masks as they ride a subway in Paris on Thursday. Virus cases are rising fast in France and other countries.