Passengers on public transport systems should avoid talking to one another or on the phone in order to minimize the risk of spreading coronavirus, the French National Academy of Medecine said.
“The mandatory wearing of masks on public transport, where social distancing is not possible, should be accompanied by one very simple precaution: avoid talking and making phone calls,” the academy said in a statement.
Academy member Patrick Berche said on BFM TV on Saturday that if there were only three people in a subway car there was no problem, but if you were only two centimetres away from the next person it made sense not to converse or talk on the phone.