- While protective masks remain difficult to access in France, Poland would offer masks for free access to its citizens, via automatic distributors.
- This is affirmed by a Facebook post shared more than 19,000 times and accompanied by the photo of such a machine.
- The photo is authentic and was taken in Warsaw, the Polish capital, as 20 Minutes was able to verify with the real estate cooperative which installed the distributor in its residential complex.
From May 11, the (potential) deconfinement date announced by Emmanuel Macron, "the State will have to allow every French person to obtain a mask for the general public" in order to fight against the epidemic of coronavirus. And if the production of these masks is underway in order to be able to have sufficient quantities in France in due time, some Internet users do not fail to criticize the current lack of stock, which would make all the more pale in comparison with some European neighbors.
“And during this time in Warsaw - Poland… We are installing distributors of disinfectant masks and gels… In France, it is: Try to find a seamstress who will perhaps make you a cloth! Thank you French politics… And long live France… Uh no, long live the most taxed country in Europe! “Protests a Facebook post shared more than 19,000 times in just 24 hours, accompanied by the photo of a distributor installed in the street.
If its content is difficult to identify on the picture, we can clearly see, on one of its sides, visuals showing masks and hydroalcoholic gel, with messages in Polish.
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The photo was well taken in Warsaw, the Polish capital, and more precisely a few meters from the Wolfganga Amadeusza Mozarta street, in the Sluzew district, as we can check on Google Maps. The distributor in question is in fact placed near a library and at the entrance to a residential complex managed by the Sluzew nad Dolinka housing cooperative, one of the largest in Warsaw, which had published the original photo. on his Facebook page on April 8.
“Almost 12,000 people live in our building stock. The Vendmen company asked us to rent part of our property to it to install this mask distributor. We agreed to rent them a central part of the residence free of charge to place the distributor there, ”continues the cooperative, adding that the machine has been in place since last week.
As the Vendmen company indicates on its site, customers of this type of distributor can buy disposable masks there (at 8.80 Zloty, or just under 2 euros per unit), hydroalcoholic gel in bottle or in sachet (between around 3 euros and a little less than a euro), and disposable gloves (at 55 euro cents).
Eight distributors distributed between Krakow and Warsaw
The website whose URL is indicated on a side of the machine contains for its part, in addition to this description, a letter addressed to Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki on March 17 by the president of the Polish Association of Vending Machines, Aleskander Wasik, calling for preserving the fragile economy of this industry during this period of containment.
Contacted by 20 Minutes , the latter did not respond to our requests before the article appeared. But the site in question also contains a map listing the location of the eight distributors of masks, gloves and hydroalcoholic gel put in place at this stage. There are two in Warsaw and six in Krakow, where some are available at tram stops.
“Between 70 and 100 people use the [Sluzew] dispenser every day, but it is not exclusively for residents: everyone can use it. And more and more people are using it because, in two days [April 16], wearing a mask will become compulsory in public places in Poland, "concludes Sluzew nad Dolinka.
Poland has announced last Thursday the extension until April 26 of the closure of schools and universities, while shops - except food stores and pharmacies - will remain closed until at least 19 April.
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