Fearmongering will not stop and is not meant to stop. You will be kept on the alert from time to time because you have to be reminded that this is the calm before the storm.
Here is an article by Velo:
“The Tour de France is mandating that masks be worn by members of the press when interacting with riders and team staff.
The policy change went into effect yesterday, Sunday, July 14, shortly after the depart of stage 15 and comes after multiple cases of COVID-19 in the peloton have forced riders to abandon. Cases have continued to rise throughout the Tour.
Tom Pidcock (Ineos-Grenadiers) was the latest confirmed rider to abandon the race with COVID, pulling out before the start of stage 14. His teammate Geraint Thomas is confirmed to have COVID with mild symptoms but is continuing to race.
Other COVID-related abandons include race leader Tadej Pogačar’s climbing domestique Juan Ayuso, on Friday. Pogačar himself announced on the eve of the Tour start that he recently had COVID but had a particularly mild case and recovered in time for the race.
Mark Cavendish, whose leadout man Michael Mørkøv left the race with COVID, has also sounded the alarm on riders continuing to race the Tour while infected.
The mid-race implementation of a mask requirement is a repeat of the 2023 Tour de France, where the race also started without masks but later required their use after cases began to pop up in the peloton.
The policy does not appear to apply to teams or team staff. While walking through the team paddock area this morning before the start of stage 15, Velo reporters saw only a handful of riders and team staff wearing masks.
GC contenders Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel are among the higher profile riders wearing masks at the Tour, though Vingegaard talked to the press after the stage yesterday without one.”