Source: Joseph Curl
The French government plans to send riot police into the Marseille region to help enforce mask regulations in an effort to stem the spread of COVID-19.
Government spokesman Gabriel Attal announced on Monday that 130 police officers will be sent into the region, west of Nice on the Balearic Sea. The region has recently expanded mask rules to include all farmers’ markets and outdoor areas.
“France has seen scattered incidents of violence by people refusing to wear masks. Paris expanded its mask requirements Saturday, and other towns around France started requiring masks outdoors on Monday,” the Associated Press reported on Monday.
Infections have been spiking in France, with 3,015 new cases Sunday. There have been 255,908 confirmed cases in the country, according to the Johns Hopkins Center for Systems Science and Engineering, and more than 30,000 people have died with the virus in France, one of the highest death tolls in the world, the AP said.
Other countries are also having difficulty enforcing mask laws and lockdowns. Police in Melbourne, Australia, reportedly fired at a man who was breaching strict curfew restrictions over the weekend.
“Officers asked him to stop so they could question why he was out after curfew,” Lana Murphy, a reporter with 9News, wrote on Twitter.
