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HEALTH

EXPLAINED: Who is entitled to free face masks in France

Face masks are compulsory in several public spaces in France, but for most people they are not free. Here's a look at who is entitled to free masks in France.

EXPLAINED: Who is entitled to free face masks in France
French President Emmanuel Macron swapped his tricoloré patriotic mask for a white one when visiting pharmaceutical group Seqens to show his support for innovative research on Covid-19. Photo: AFP

Face masks have become key in the French government's preventive strategy to curb the coronavirus spread in the country.

Across France, masks are compulsory both inside public spaces and on public transport, in secondary schools, high schools and in the workplace.

Piling onto the nationwide rules, hundreds of local authorities have issued rules on mask-wearing outside too, with nearly a dozen big cities – including Paris, Nice and Marseille – introducing blanket rules that mean anyone leaving their home must wear a mask.

Some have complained that, due to the increasingly strict rules on mask-wearing, the government should make masks free for everyone.

'Uncomfortable but vital' – Why three quarters of French people support tough mask rules

While capping the price of face masks, the government has said it will not make them free – bar few exceptions.

According to a new government decree, these groups are entitled to free masks;

  • People on complementary health insurance (CSS) or State medical aid (AME) who received masks by post at the end of July;
  • Vulnerable people likely to develop severe forms of Covid-19 can pick up free masks in pharmacies on medical prescription. The government previously published a decree detailing who qualifies as “vulnerable” (people aged over 65 with diabetes, cancer patients, HIV patients, people on dialysis etc).
  • Anyone who has tested positive for Covid-19 and who has a medical prescription;
  • Anyone identified as living in the same household as someone with the virus.

Fabric, surgical or filter – what are the rules in France on mask types?

Certain groups also benefit from free masks through their job;

  • Employees who are required to wear a mask at work are not themselves responsible for purchasing these masks, their employer is (only during work hours, except for vulnerable people who are to receive masks for their commute to and from work). Anyone who works in a shared indoor workplace must now wear a mask at work – for more details on the rules, click here.
  • Public health workers and social workers get their masks from the government.
  • Doctors, dentists, medical biologists, midwives, nurses, and health personnel working with Covid-19 PCR tests have the right to 24 masks per week;
  • Pharmacists, physiotherapists, medical technicians, medical physicists, pharmacy assistants and laboratory technicians have the right to 18 masks per week;
  • Hearing care professionals, dieticians, therapists, opticians, speech therapists, orthoptists, chiropodists, prosthetists and orthotists, psychomotor therapists, chiropractors, osteopaths and psychologists have the right to 12 masks per week.
  • Home helps and carers
  • Service providers and equipment distributors

Covid-19 patients and medical professionals receive one-use surgical masks or filter masks, but the masks sent out to low-income families are washable fabric masks.

There's no pattern option though, so if you want to pimp up your mask then you might have to pay out.

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LIVING IN FRANCE

5 tips to have the best possible night at France’s Fête de la musique

It can be the most fun day of the year - when France goes music crazy and bands suddenly appear on every street corner - but there are some tips to make your Fête de la musique experience as good as it can possibly be.

5 tips to have the best possible night at France's Fête de la musique

First, a caveat – this is an entirely personal manifesto based on the things that I have enjoyed over my Fête de la Musique outings over the years. It’s not intended as any kind of hard-and-fast rule and plenty of people will have different experiences.

Feel free to disagree and/or share your festival tips in the comments section below!

1 Ignore the big-name artists

There are always a few big-name artists or concerts in major venues on the Fête de la musique (which happens every year on June 21st).

Ignore them. Sure, stadiums gigs can be great and huge venues can have a wonderful atmosphere – but you can do that any night of the year. It’s not what Fête de la musique is about.

The true spirit of the Fête is the smaller acts who play on street corners, in bars and community venues. They’re free, you can wander between them and stay as long as you like – and there is always something else around the corner.

2 Ignore the big towns

You might think that the big cities have the best music, but if you have the choice, go for a small town or a suburb.

I’ve enjoyed some good Fêtes in Paris, but the best experiences had have been smaller towns or the Paris’ suburbs (Montreuil is good – a commune that carefully cultivates a small-town / village vibe, albeit a very diverse small town where everyone is a hippy, a leftist, or both).

It’s partly a practicality thing – in big cities the acts are spread out and you have to make plans to see something and meet up with friends. In small towns, you just wander along to the main square, then when you’ve seen the acts there, you can saunter up the side streets, each of which will have dozens of bands playing, pausing only to grab a beer and snacks.

But it’s also the vibe; in big cities you can hear good live music all the time and the population is consequently complacent – small towns truly appreciate the Fête de la musique and properly go wild.

Once, in Paris, I was watching a blues band play in the street when a woman tipped water on their heads from her apartment window because she was tired and wanted to go to sleep. Small towns appreciate it when bands play for them.

3 Experiment

There’s a lot of variety on the night, so take advantage – this is your opportunity to hear all kinds of live music from rock to swing, jazz to classical, choirs to DJs.

Didn’t think that a five-piece oud band is your thing? Fête de la musique may change your mind. It’s the night of the year when anything goes, musically, so it’s also the night to try something new.

If you hate it – well it’s free and there’s another band down the street that might be more your thing. But you might discover a lifetime passion for oud music – in fact, by this time next year you might be playing in the oud band. Thanks to the Fête de la musique.

4 Don’t insist on quality

You’ll hear some great bands, but you’ll also hear some that are more about enthusiasm – and that’s all part of the fun.

You’re going to be hearing everything from classic rock to reggae to blues to the above-mentioned five-piece oud band, and as well as the styles the quality may be variable to.

For me, the true spirit of Fête de la musique is the 50-year-old accountant rocking out on his guitar and enjoying the one night of the year when he can dream that if only he hadn’t given up on his high school band, he could now be rich, famous and selling out stadiums, as opposed to filing tax declarations in an office above the florist.

5 Dress comfortably

Some people like to dress up for the Fête and that’s great – it’s a party after all – but the key thing is to wear something that is comfortable and allows you to shake your stuff.

Yes, you will be dancing – you’ll be dancing on street corners, in parks, cafés and perhaps on street furniture if things really get going, and you’ll be dancing with kids, dapper 70-year-old gents and everyone in between.

You need comfortable shoes and clothes that you can really move in.

Dance like no-one is watching. They may be watching, but they won’t be judging. Much. It’s Fête de la musique.

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