It is an event worthy of a TV series, and which speaks volumes about the war of masks in which the great powers struck by the coronavirus are engaged. Planes loaded with masks destined for France have been hijacked by Americans, as several sources have noted. The Americans come to the tarmac with cash to outbid the goods planned to restock the Hexagon. The objective: recover the cargo and send the plane and its cargo to the United States, where the pandemic has killed 884 people in the past 24 hours.
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The USA ready to pay double, even triple
These masks, the Americans are ready to pay them double, even triple the initial price. Evidenced by the episode found on the Chinese tarmac. "Masks are becoming scarce, and Americans buy them everywhere they find them, no matter the price," said a source in one of the regions victim of the process, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The president of the Provence Alpes Côte d'Azur region, Renaud Muselier, has also heard of such a practice from American buyers. During a meeting between the regional presidents, "a regional president explained to us that his mask order had been stolen from him at the airport itself, by the Americans, who paid three times the price, in cash", he reported to AFP, specifying wanting to keep quiet the name of the region and the number of masks ordered.
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Logistics chaos in China
"You have to fight 24 hours a day," laments Jean Rottner, president of the Grand Est region, relieved when he saw the two million masks ordered from China land at Basel-Mulhouse airport in the night from Tuesday to Wednesday. Masks essential to caregivers and nursing homes in the region among the most affected in France.
He adds to work hard with the sponsors in order to win these markets. For his part, the president of the Provence Alpes Côte d'Azur region, Renaud Muselier, declares to be "of Sioux's prudence". Indeed, although the orders are made in the standards, the current context is so exceptional that often the situation gets out of hand.
"It's logistical chaos in China," a source from Nouvelle Aquitaine told Liberation . "The Americans order two or three billion masks: with our five million, we always go after.
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In the United States, the director of the Institute of Infectious Diseases and member of the White House crisis unit, Anthony Fauci, admitted that the initial reluctance to wear masks was based on the shortage of masks experienced also the country which does not have enough for its medical personnel, and even less for the whole population. "But once we have enough masks, serious consideration will be given to expanding the recommendation to wear masks," he said on CNN on Tuesday.