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Global report: France reveals 400-500 new Covid-19 clusters as mask rules tighten

<span>Photograph: Philippe Lopez/AFP/Getty Images</span>
Photograph: Philippe Lopez/AFP/Getty Images

France has made the wearing of face masks compulsory in all indoor public spaces, warning of fines for those refusing to comply.

As other countries, including Malaysia, said they were considering similar measures, the French government brought forward its new mask regulation, reporting 400 to 500 active coronavirus outbreak clusters in the country.

Masks must be worn in banks, supermarkets, post offices and covered markets as well as all offices, buildings, commerces and establishments that receive the public. Face coverings are already obligatory on public transport. Anyone found without a mask or refusing to wear one will be fined €135.

The increasing number of mandates for mask-wearing around the globe – including in UK – follow months of stop-start arguments about the efficacy of face coverings, as well as demonstrations against mask-wearing in the US.

However as scientific evidence has hardened around the risk of airborne transmission as well as from respiratory droplets, a consensus appears to have coalesced around the benefits of wearing masks, not least indoors.

On Monday, French health minister Olivier Véran justified the regulation, saying there was a “worrying dynamic” in the spread of Covid-19.

While authorities in France have reported significant new outbreak clusters, there are no signs of an imminent “second wave”, Véran told FranceInfo.

Many of the current virus clusters involve abattoirs or other contained professional settings such as old age homes, he said. Others had resulted from family reunions during the summer holidays.

“We are seeing worrying signs of new outbreaks of the epidemic in certain places across the country that have led us to ‘harden’ our position regarding the health message,” Véran said. “The goal is not to worry people excessively, but to keep them on their guard.

Concern over resurgences has been driven in a number of European countries by rebounding numbers of infections, including in France, Belgium and Spain.

In the last week, coronavirus cases have risen in nine of Belgium’s 10 provinces.

Official data shows a 66% increase in new infections recorded during 10-16 July, compared to the previous six-day period. Overall numbers remain low compared to the height of the pandemic – a daily average of 154 for 10-16 July, compared to 93 for 3-9 July – but the increase has concerned some scientists.

Yves Coppieters, professor of public health at the Free University of Brussels (ULB) said: “We haven’t fundamentally increased the number of tests, so this is a rebound.”

Speaking to Belgium’s public broadcaster he called on public authorities to explain the level of risk in each province “so populations can adapt their behaviour”.

The persistence of the virus, and its ability to re-establish itself quickly, has become one of the key focuses of recent weeks as countries have moved from nationwide to more localised restrictions, with more and less success.

More than 14.5 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 604,232 have died, with infections reported in more than 210 countries and territories since the first cases were identified in China in December 2019.

Describing the experience in Australia, where Melbourne has been battling a new outbreak, the country’s acting chief medical officer Paul Kelly said it would take “weeks” to slow the outbreak in the city to levels seen as recently as June.

“We have learned over time that the time between introducing a measure and seeing its effect is at least two weeks and sometimes longer than that,” Kelly told Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio.

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Hong Kong, now experiencing its third peak, reported 73 new cases on Monday, including 66 that were locally transmitted, as new restrictions took effect and authorities warned there was no indication that the situation was coming under control.

The global financial hub reported more than 100 cases on Sunday, a record number, as Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam announced that non-essential civil servants must work from home. Face masks are now mandatory in indoor public areas.

While some countries are dealing with resurgences, others – including Russia and the US – are still reeling from the pandemic’s first wave. Russia reported 5,940 new cases on Monday, pushing its total infection tally to 777,486, the fourth largest in the world. In a daily readout, officials said 85 people had died in the last 24 hours, bringing the official death toll to 12,427.