Prime minister Jean Castex said working from home guidance would also be scrapped as well as audience capacity limits on concert halls and sporting matches.
An administrative tribunal has overturned a requirement recently imposed by the Paris prefecture for the wearing of masks in outdoor public spaces in the capital, ruling that the measure was disproportionate to the health risks otherwise present and that it did not take into account the locations and timing of mass circulation.
The former French health minister Agnès Buzyn was placed under formal investigation on Friday September 10th for “putting the lives of others in danger” during the Covid-19 pandemic. Prosecutors also named her as an “assisted witness” - a half-way status between that of a witness and a potential suspect - in relation to allegations of “failing to fight a disaster”. The investigation into Buzyn, who stepped down as health minister in mid-February 2020 as the epidemic was gaining speed in the country, came after numerous legal complaints lodged by private individuals and groups. The news, which will once again shine a spotlight on the French government's initial handling of the epidemic, comes just months before President Emmanuel Macron is set to seek re-election in the 2022 presidential election. Sarah Brethes, Caroline Coq-Chodorge and Antton Rouget report.
Jean Castex announced measures to create more efficient testing and tracing capacity in the country after France recorded nearly 10,000 new cases in a single day on Thursday.
French education minister Jean-Michel Blanquer has announced that every adult in all types of French schools, which are due to reopen at the beginning of September, must wear a face mask to limit transmission of the coronavirus, overturning an earlier decision to exempt teachers at primary schools from the requirement.
The Mayenne prefecture said masks would be compulsory in its main city Laval as well as five other municipalities - Bonchamp-lès-Laval, Changé, L’Huisserie, Louverné and Saint-Berthevin.
A bus driver in Bayonne, south-west France was described as brain dead on Monday after challenging a group of passengers who boarded his vehicle on Sunday evening without tickets or masks which by law must be worn by all passengers on public transport.
France's information privacy watchdog CNILL has expressed concerns that the Paris metro network has begun using software on CCTV images to monitor the wearing of face masks by passengers, which will be mandatory as France lifts its lockdown measures on Monday, while the private company leading the project insists no personal data is provided to the authorities.
Pupils aged 11-15 will be expected to wear face masks and ttores will have the right to ask shoppers to wear masks, and should ensure they remain a metre apart.
