Each French should be able to get a "general public mask" from May 11 to protect themselves from the Covid-19, said Monday evening, in his speech, Emmanuel Macron. Concretely, how many will be needed per day? And how many can we make in France? The labor force represents around 25 million people, who may need at least two masks a day, if you consider that they take public transport to and from work. It would therefore take about 50 million masks each day. But, with cloth masks washable 20 times, the government estimates that it will take 20 times less. This objective seems tenable according to the bosses of the 90 textile factories who have started producing fabric masks almost everywhere in France for a fortnight.
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Models that increase performance
"We weave tubular structures which allow us to obtain three layers at once; two peripheral layers which resemble normal tissue and, inside the mask, a layer which allows filtration thanks to a specific material: polyester ", explains to Europe 1 Éric Boël, head of weaving in Charlieu in the Loire. It is now the biggest producer of cloth masks, thanks to this original prototype which allows a big yield. This mask, washable at 60 degrees, is already sold between 85 cents and 1.20 euros excluding tax to companies that continue their activity during the crisis.
Disposable masks manufactured in the eight French factories or imported should complete this production in the coming weeks, once the nursing staff have been equipped. At the moment, French factories produce 6.9 million masks per week, and by the end of April "at least 10 million", we hope the government.
The Cannes example
Some municipalities did not wait for the new mask wearing instructions to enrich their stocks. Like Cannes, which intends to provide masks to 100,000 people. "We tried to anticipate. We already had a large stock of professional masks that we regularly renewed in the event of an epidemic, which allows the municipality to protect employees in contact with the public, but also d "having provided the hospital and the city doctors to make the connection between the periods of delivery by the State", welcomes the mayor David Lisnard.
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To this is also added the manufacture of fabric masks: "We have launched a local production of fabric masks, approved. They are good quality masks, washable thirty times, and we are thinking about the manufacturing of 'a standard washable up to a hundred times ", continues the city councilor. To do this, the municipality has set up a local factory with 17 couturiers who work in a network. "All the inhabitants will be provided in the coming days with two masks. We have started the distribution," concludes David Lisnard.