Five questions about coronavirus protective masks

• Two types of masks exist in France for specific uses. So-called “surgical” anti-splash masks and FFP2, reserved exclusively for hospital staff.
• The government announced Wednesday by decree to requisition all the stocks of masks available, as well as those that will be manufactured soon.
• It is now necessary to have a prescription to get a protective mask in pharmacies.

It is, without a doubt, the most representative object of the coronavirus crisis. Whether on the street, public transport and healthcare establishments, the mask is used by citizens and health professionals alike to protect themselves from the virus and not to transmit it.

20 Minutes takes stock of the many questions surrounding this object.

What types of masks exist in France?

In France, two types of masks are distributed. The first, type FFP2, are "reserved exclusively for hospital staff, trained, in close and prolonged contact with confirmed cases and who perform invasive medical procedures (intensive care)", can we read in a document from the Ministry of Solidarity and Health.

The second, anti-spray, called "surgical", allow "to reduce the spread of potentially infectious particles and protect people and the environment", according to the same document. They are "reserved" for "sick people and people in contact with people at moderate / high risk", as well as "health professionals, people in charge of first aid and in charge of medical transport in case of suspected contact with a sick person ".

The document specifies that people who are not affected by the virus should not use so-called surgical masks, because "the use as a preventive measure for people who are not in close contact with the patients is indeed useless". An instruction repeated several times by the new Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, as Wednesday evening on France 2. And to pass the message on Twitter:

Masks should be worn in specific situations recommended by your doctor. #QuestionsCoronavirus pic.twitter.com/a8YhP1qJGV

Are the two types of masks equal?

Wednesday, in his daily update on the coronavirus, Professor Jérôme Salomon, Director General of Health, assured that it “has been scientifically confirmed that, as regards the coronavirus Covid-19, anti-projection masks have an effectiveness equivalent to that of FFP2 specialized masks ”. He added based on "the official report of the World Health Organization (WHO), a clinical trial published by the Journal of the American Medical Association [an international medical journal], the official opinion of the French Society of hospital hygiene and the official recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States ”.

For Jérôme Salomon, FFP2 masks "must be strictly reserved for the use of hospital professionals who perform high-risk gestures on a daily basis, in critical care for example, or who are exposed to different infectious agents such as tuberculosis".

A position criticized by unions of liberal doctors, reported AFP. The latter demanded that masks with a high level of protection be urgently distributed to these caregivers. They argue that surgical masks, primarily intended for a patient not to infect other people, are not enough to protect doctors.

What is the lifespan of protective masks?

The lifespan of the masks is only "a few hours", specifies the General Directorate of Health at 20 Minutes . A general practitioner, practicing in the town of Salles (Gironde), tells us that surgical masks are effective 3 to 4 hours, compared to 8 hours for FFP2.

In addition to their short lifespan, the masks also have a specific expiration date. Those "whose expiration date is closest were sent first" to pharmacies, said the DGS. This is why the means of protection which expired in March 2020 found themselves in the hands of health professionals and the public.

Asked how the expiration dates are chosen for the protective masks, the DGS indicated that it did not yet have "elements" in its possession.

Are there enough protective masks in France?

To guarantee the circulation of a sufficient number of masks in France, the government has taken several decisions. The first was to destock 15 million anti-projection masks which were part of the strategic stock of approximately 150 million masks kept at the Ministry of Solidarity and Health.

#Coronavirus: masks are useful for all those who have been in close contact with a patient, and in particular for healthcare professionals.
We have already sold 15 million and we will order several million in the coming days. #BourdinDirect pic.twitter.com/gw4iX9i5jz

The pharmacies in the areas where cases of coronavirus have been detected have received these destocked masks as a priority. They are sent in the form of batches of 50. "In the commune of Salles, we are around thirty health professionals," continues the general practitioner whom we contacted. The pharmacy received 10 lots which we had to share between us. In my office, we are four doctors and we were entitled to 2 lots, or 100 masks, so 25 each. Now we have to wear one all day. Given their lifespan, we use around two a day. In order not to waste them too much, we came out of the FFP2 masks that we had left from an influenza epidemic of the early 2000s… ”.

For its part, the government has assured that the masks are being shipped everywhere in France.

The second decision of the State was to order means of protection to "four big companies on the national territory which manufacture these masks", explained Olivier Véran Tuesday at the Assembly. The Minister of Health assured to have "placed the most massive public orders that there is" and asked the companies to "operate day and night, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, so as to provide the maximum of masks possible", according to quotes quoted by AFP.

Finally, in a decree published Wednesday March 4 in the Official Journal, The government has announced that it will requisition stocks of FFP2 type anti-splash respiratory protection masks, as well as those that will be manufactured between the publication of the decree and May 31, 2020. The aim is to ensure "priority access to professionals in health and patients in the fight against the covid-19 virus ”.

Emmanuel Macron spoke about it on Tuesday on Twitter:

We requisition all stocks and the production of protective masks. We will distribute them to healthcare professionals and French people affected by the Coronavirus.

How do the requisition and distribution of masks work?

Can the government prevent private companies from selling their products on the market the way they want? Yes, as specified in articles L. 3131-8 and L. 3131-9 of the public health code.

Thus, “if the influx of patients or victims where the health situation justifies it, the representative of the State in the department can make the necessary requisitions of all goods and services […] within the framework of a device called plan enlarged white ”. This competence “may be exercised, under the same conditions, by the prefects of the defense zone and by the Prime Minister, if the nature of the health situation or the extent of the influx of patients or victims justify it. "

All the masks requisitioned by the government will be distributed, according to their type, either to hospitals, for FFP2, or to pharmacies, for those said to be “surgical”. Health professionals and citizens with a prescription can then obtain these masks from pharmacies. Because the government has now banned the free sale of anti-splash masks. "We have given instructions to pharmacies so that they only distribute masks on medical prescription or to health professionals" confirmed Wednesday Sibeth Ndiaye present on France Inter.

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