- Jérôme Salomon affirmed on April 22 “having always argued for access to masks for the general public”.
- The Director General of Health was however very reserved for several weeks on the wearing of the mask by the whole population. He said on March 4 "masks have no interest for the general public".
- 20 Minutes returns to his various statements and the evolution of his point of view.
“I have always argued for access to masks for the general public. Jérôme Salomon was affirmative on Wednesday during his daily press briefing on the Covid-19 epidemic. After recalling the importance of confinement, physical distancing and barrier gestures to slow the progression of the disease, the Director General of Health expressed himself in favor of alternative masks, which he qualified as "supplements". to these protective measures.
The doctor has not always expressed himself in favor of these masks. In March, he was even very reserved about the wearing of a mask by the general public. 20 Minutes returns to the statements of Jérôme Salomon.
"Masks have no interest for the general public"
On March 4, Jérôme Salomon explained on BFMTV that "masks have no interest for the general public". He indicated that he followed the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO), the American authorities and the French Society of Hospital Hygiene. He recalled that the masks are valid "for the sick, for people who are asked to stay at home because they are in contact with a confirmed case and for health professionals when they are in contact with a sick person" .
In mid-March, the Director General of Health repeated this message during several public interventions. There is a risk of improper handling of the masks and therefore of contamination by the general public. He also urges the French to be "united" with caregivers, while France deplores a shortage of protective equipment for these professionals.
"You get infected by touching your mask"
On March 19, two days after the start of confinement, he was very reserved about the use of cloth masks. He then describes their production as "personal initiatives", whereas, six days earlier, the Grenoble University Hospital published a pattern to make his mask out of fabric. He warns again about the risks posed by handling a mask: "Handling masks, whether fabric or protective, increases the risk of carrying the virus from surface to surface. A mask is a technique, it is reserved for caregivers. We take off our mask, we manipulate our mask, we contaminate ourselves by touching our mask. "
At the beginning of April, the 3rd, Jérôme Salomon changed his position: "if we have access to brands [during production], we will encourage the general public, if they wish, to wear masks, in particular these alternative masks which are in production ”. The day before, the Academy of Medicine had recommended the wearing of these masks by the general public and, on March 24, the National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products recognized that the use of these masks "is of interest to reserve the use of masks having the status of medical device or personal protective equipment to health professionals ”.
The agency recommended the wearing of these devices "in the context of professional activity". After this notice, Jérôme Salomon co-signed a note on March 29, creating two new categories of masks "reserved for non-sanitary uses".
The Director General of Health has not "always argued for access to masks for the general public", but his position changed at the beginning of April, after the publication of a decree recognizing these new types of masks and the publication of a recommendation from the Academy of Medicine. The WHO does not recommend wearing a mask by healthy people only when they "take care of a person suspected of being infected" with Covid-19. Wearing a mask should not be a substitute for barrier gestures: it is essential to wash your hands and respect the distances between people.
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