The Head of State wants to "show the exceptional mobilization of our industry to meet the needs linked to the Covid-19 crisis". In the middle of a controversy over the shortage of protective masks, Emmanuel Macron went to the field. After visiting the military hospital in Mulhouse last week, the President of the Republic went Tuesday morning to the mask factory of the SME Kolmi-Hopen on the outskirts of Angers (Maine-et-Loire), the largest of the four French producers.
>> LIVE - Follow the developments on Tuesday March 31
This FFP2 and surgical mask factory, located in Saint-Barthélémy d'Anjou, is now running 24 hours a day to increase its production after recruiting 35 fixed-term contracts. The increase in production in the four French mask companies will increase national production from 15 million to 40 million masks per month in April. But the needs for nursing staff and nursing homes are estimated at 40 million per week, said the Elysee in a statement.
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A billion masks ordered
To meet needs, France has ordered a billion masks and is organizing an "airlift" with China, the first shipment of 8.5 million masks arrived on Monday. A second delivery from China of 12 million masks is expected on Wednesday, the presidency said. The executive recalls having also mobilized the strategic stock (117 million adult surgical masks) and requisitioned the four national producers so that they do not sell abroad.
A production of alternative masks, in fabric, has also been launched, to the tune of half a million per month, which can be used by certain professions in contact with the public, such as cashiers or the police, specifies the Élysée.