A new mandate to wear masks outdoors took effect on Friday in Paris as part of an effort to slow down the spread of the Omicron variant in the French capital, which has become the center of the country’s latest wave of coronavirus infections.

To combat the new wave, the police in Paris announced that people ages 11 and older would be required to wear masks outside and in all public places, with some exceptions allowed for people exercising or riding bikes. No end date for the measure was given.

France dropped its first mandatory outdoor mask policy in June, about a year after it was imposed, in a move that symbolized for many the retreat of the pandemic. About the same time, it lifted curfew measures and reopened bars and restaurants.