PARIS (Reuters) – A French administrative tribunal on Thursday revoked an order that required masks to be worn on the streets of Paris the news agency AFP reported.
The mask mandate, which was imposed by Paris prefecture, the local branch of the interior ministry, had been in effect in the capital city since December. 31 in an attempt to stop the rapid spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
The decision of the Paris Administrative Tribunal comes a day after another court in Versailles close to the capital, halted the same order to wear masks outside in the Yvelines region, calling the mandate “an excessive, disproportionate and indecent infringement … of personal freedom”.
There was no immediate reaction from the Paris Prefecture.
The greater Paris region is France’s Omicron hotspot, but the variant is running rampant all over the country. The prevalence rate for Omicron-related infections in France was 3,899 per 100,000 people in the last seven days, according to research.
The court’s decision was lauded in some quarters.
“Live free, be happy!” Florian Philippot, far-right politician, wrote this tweet. Philippot has been the leader of massive protests on the streets in protest of President Emmanuel Macron’s COVID-19 restraining measures including France’s health card.
