"It's complicated, we fight 24 hours a day." Jean Rottner, president of the Grand Est region, regretted Wednesday April 1, that masks ordered in China by France are bought by the Americans on the tarmac of the Chinese airports from where the delivery planes must leave.

"On the tarmac, the Americans take out the cash and pay three or four times for the orders we have made, so we really have to fight. And I was very happy to see this plane arriving at our house last night", he explained to RTL's microphone.

>> Read: Coronavirus in France: how the State's logistical choices have led to a shortage of masks

He is not the only one to have experienced the difficulty of obtaining the masks ordered. Regional president Paca Renaud Muselier has also heard of such a practice from American buyers. At a meeting between regional presidents, "a regional president told us that his order for masks had been stolen from him at the airport by the Americans, who paid three times the price, in cash. But I will not give you the name of the region or the number of masks ordered, "he told AFP.

To recover an order for four million masks, ready since Saturday, the Paca Region has "finally decided to go through Ceva, the logistics subsidiary of CMA-CGM", a French charter shipping company based in Marseille , Renaud Muselier told AFP.

"At least I'm sure no one is going to buy them from me on the tarmac. Normally, they're on the road to the airport. But I remain cautious of Sioux, it's an incredible obstacle course" d 'from a logistical point of view, he noted.

Five million masks for the Grand Est

Two million surgical masks ordered by the Grand Est region from China were delivered overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday at Basel-Mulhouse airport.

Jean Rottner, himself an emergency doctor, ordered a total of five million masks, funded by the regional budget.

The Grand Est was the first region to receive its own order for masks placed in addition to national orders.

Emmanuel Macron, criticized for the lack of masks that France has to face, notably promised Tuesday "full independence" by the end of the year for the production of masks, during a visit to a manufacturing plant in Anjou.

The United States, which has been slow to take measures to stop the spread of the coronavirus on its territory, is also looking for masks.

With AFP

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