It has become the most coveted object in the world. At a time when France is hit hard by the epidemic of coronavirus, the lack of a mask is more than ever problematic. The first responsible? The government, reveals a survey by Mediapart, published this Thursday on its site (paid).
Emergency room doctors, nurses, nursing assistants, liberal doctors, nursing staff… All over France, French healthcare professionals have to fight against the “biggest health crisis of our time”, according to the WHO, with a stock of almost zero masks . According to Mediapart, this is the result of a series of dysfunctions and of a too late reaction from the French State.
[# Revelations] Masks: evidence of a state lie. Our survey to read on Mediapart.
We explain in this thread 👇 # COVID ー 19 #Deconfinement pic.twitter.com/YLb5NLBiMh
At the highest state summit, the failures of anticipation
And mistakes start in January. At that time, - France is not yet affected by the epidemic -, the country does not have any FFP2 mask but simply 80 million surgical masks. A vacuum due to a decision taken in 2013: at that time, the government decided to eliminate strategic state stocks and delegated orders for masks directly to health establishments, private and public. At the end of January, the General Directorate of Health asked the French public health agency to buy 1.1 million FFP2 masks, tell our colleagues.
But faced with increased needs, the order finally went to 28.4 million masks. Without success. The Public Health agency France receives only 500,000 masks. According to Mediapart, this failure would be due to strong international demand and public procurement procedures unsuited to the health emergency. However, the estimates of the Ministry of Health are much higher: it would take 175 million FFP2 masks based on an epidemic of three months.
Missed opportunities
To manage the crisis, the government installed, at the beginning of March, an inter-ministerial cell dedicated to the purchase and order of masks. Problem: the whole world is looking for the same thing. In three weeks, only 40 million masks are obtained - from French companies, requisitions, donations and foreign imports - the equivalent of a week of consumption during a health crisis.
The government has however refused several proposals from foreign suppliers, believing that they were not reliable, explains Mediapart. The French company Prolaser, which had announced that it could import 500,000 masks a day thanks to its contacts in China, has never had a response from the government, according to our colleagues. Another company, it had identified 500,000 surgical masks without European standards, which could not be imported, for lack of agreement from the customs and the Ministry of Health.
The useless mask, except for Airbus
A lack of stock that the state could have avoided. From the start of the epidemic, the government downplayed the importance of masks, even advising against wearing them, except for those who were infected. "Surgical masks are useful in the event of an epidemic and they are distributed to people returning from China and to people in contact with patients," said Director General of Health Jérôme Salomon in February.
Our file on the coronavirus
On March 25, government spokesperson Sibeth Ndiaye said that "the President of the Republic does not have a mask, simply because there is no need for a mask when you respect the protective distance from others ”. But the same day, Emmanuel Macron, visiting the Mulhouse field hospital, appeared with an FFP2 mask on his face. Useless, but not for everyone. According to our colleagues, certain companies, which are not essential to the economy, have obviously been entitled to preferential treatment. This is the case of Airbus, for example, which continued to provide masks to its employees, even when caregivers faced the virus without protection.
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