Paris (AFP)
The government has "not told the truth" on the masks, said Monday the deputy LR Eric Ciotti by judging that for lack of tests and masks "for everyone", to speak of deconfinement at this stage is "a serious error" .
"Why is there no wearing of masks in our country? Because we do not have masks", orders "were not made early enough", said Ciotti on Europe 1.
"The government, it is clear, from January (...) did not tell the truth. The government should have said that we did not have these masks rather than spreading messages that were wrong", like saying that the masks are "useless" or "dangerous" which is "an absolute untruth", he added.
The government changed its position on Friday by announcing the manufacture of "alternative" masks, other than medical.
"Today, we see this reversal of speech, but in a crisis we need transparency," continued the elected official who is one of the vice-presidents of the Assembly's fact-finding mission on the coronavirus .
"If we had been in charge, I have the weakness to believe that the orders for masks and this situation would have been better anticipated", he continued, noting that "when Nicolas Sarkozy left the presidency of the Republic , there were 1.4 billion masks in France ".
For the member for Alpes-Maritimes, the government has spoken "too quickly, too soon, too recklessly" of deconfinement.
"We are not ready for this deconfinement" because we need "two preliminary stages" which are "far from being there": having generalized tests and "masks for everyone". In this context, speaking of deconfinement is "a serious error", he judged, saying "very clearly" in favor of a continued confinement beyond April 15.
The day before, the boss of deputies LR Damien Abad had also judged that the word deconfinement had been pronounced "too early" and asked the government to "clarify its doctrine" on masks.
© 2020 AFP