A plastic sheet installed by a tobacconist in Dijon, April 7, 2020. - KONRAD K./SIPA

Tobacconists, fishmongers, taxi drivers ... The Confederation of French merchants (CDF) says it is "very worried" for the health of its members and calls for better access to protection against coronavirus. The government responded on Wednesday to be "fully committed to protecting trade professionals".

"More than three weeks of opening in a context of the Covid-19 pandemic and still no effective protections for open businesses," worries the CDF in a press release sent to AFP on Wednesday. The CDF brings together 19 federations of trade and commercial crafts, or 450,000 companies. Among these, businesses authorized to open despite confinement and others that had to close.

Gel and masks

“The Culture Press member federations, the Ile-de-France tobacconists federation, Oise and Seine-Maritime, the National Group of Independents (GNI), the National Taxi Union (UNT), the Fishmongers' Organization Écaillers de France (OPEF) represent trades particularly in contact with consumers and customers, ”points out the CDF.

These professionals "have been asking for protection from the State for more than three weeks or at least facilitated access to protection", in particular hydroalcoholic gel and masks. The Confederation requests "urgently health support" from the State, asking in particular to "know the precise coordinates where the traders will be able to obtain equipment, to ensure the protection of all and all".

A dedicated site and a mobilized industry

In a press release, the Secretary of State for the Economy Agnès Pannier-Runacher replied that "the government was fully committed to protecting trade professionals" and recalled that "protective equipment (gel, mask, etc.) could in particular be bought by professionals on the StopCovid19.fr platform, which put them in touch with manufacturers ”.

"The list of companies producing masks is regularly updated on the website of the Directorate General of Enterprises, as has been widely communicated to the federations," added the Secretary of State, who also indicates that the government has "mobilized the textile industry to massively develop the production of filter masks for professionals ”. "As a reminder, 3.9 million textile filter masks were produced last week and this production should amount to 6.6 million units this week," she said.

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