Mask in transport: the 3 reasons that lead some to keep it

Drop the masks. It’s now official: this piece of fabric that has been hiding half of our faces for several years now, is no longer mandatory in public transport. Bus, tram, plane, metro, train: you will now travel with your face uncovered… Or not! Some passengers are already expressing their desire to keep the mask on when they travel, for a variety of reasons. Three of them, Anne, Élise and Ludovic* shared their motivations with us.

Anne is about to board a plane for her vacation. Obligation or not, one thing is certain: she will continue to wear her mask. “There is too much mixing in the airports (…) I really don’t want to have the Covid-19 when I go on vacation!”, She says. Despite her complete vaccination schedule, Anne considers airports to be too important places of passage and exchange not to keep her mask on.

Élise, from Paris, has found a new use for the mask. “I plan to keep the mask on the metro, which I take daily to work, because, Covid or not, it remains for me one of the dirtiest and most crowded places in the city,” he explains. she.

She says she is “reassured” to have this protection, “which also protects against unpleasant odors, in particular the smell of perspiration from my rowing neighbors when it is very hot…”.

Ludovic, 22, who takes public transport several times a week to work, intends to continue to cover his face in some cases. “If there are people, I will of course wear it, to protect myself but above all to protect others from the virus. I am vaccinated with two doses and I have already had Covid-19 once, so I am worried more for my train neighbors than for me. You can always come across a person at risk”, he confides, before adding that he thinks the same way in all public places: at work , at the supermarket…

*Names of people quoted have been changed.