Saint-Barthélemy-d'Anjou (France) (AFP)

Mask on the face, charlotte on the head and in a protective gown, Emmanuel Macron started a visit on Tuesday of the mask factory of the SME Kolmi-Hopen on the outskirts of Angers (Maine-et-Loire), in full controversy on the lack of this material in the face of the coronavirus.

The president, who arrived around noon at the site of the largest of the four French producers of masks, put on protective clothing, mask, blouse, charlotte and overshoes, to visit the clean production room of the factory.

He then removed this protective material to exchange with a few employees while respecting the rules of distancing, before a planned statement to the press.

The Head of State wants to "show the exceptional mobilization of our industry to meet the needs linked to the Covid-19 crisis", according to the Elysée.

This factory located in Saint-Barthélémy d'Anjou, is now running 24 hours a day to increase its production after recruiting 35 fixed-term contracts. It produces 270,000 FFP2 masks every day (nearly 2 million per week) and 450,000 surgical masks (3 million per week). All the elements, from the elastic to the mask, are made in France.

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.

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.

The doctrine of Emmanuel Macron and his government concerning masks remains for the time being that masks must be reserved in priority for nursing staff and nursing home staff, but that it is useless to generalize them to the whole population.

Many professions in contact with the public, such as cashiers, law enforcement, firefighters, prison staff but also workers demand masks, some unions calling to exercise a right of withdrawal for lack of adequate protection.

The Head of State has increased travel recently to show himself on the ground in front of actors who are fighting against the epidemic. He went to the Pasteur Institute with the researchers, in a hotel requisitioned for the homeless. Last Wednesday, he visited the field hospital installed near Mulhouse to relieve hospitals overwhelmed by the outbreak of the epidemic in the Grand Est.

© 2020 AFP