Ten million masks arrived at Roissy airport on Thursday morning in the presence of the Secretary of State for Transport, Jean-Baptiste Djebbari. The delivery took place under the supervision of around twenty heavily armed gendarmes stationed around the plane. "It's almost the same device as for jewelry or gold bars," said one of them.
>> LIVE - Coronavirus: follow the evolution of the situation Thursday April 30
150 million masks per week
In France, the need for masks to fight against the coronavirus is such that the Secretary of State made a point of attending their delivery in person. "These are masks for caregivers, FFP2 and surgical, which are currently transported," he said as the pallets are unloaded one by one, always under the watchful eye of the gendarmes.
>> Watch all of Raphaëlle Duchemin's programs in replay and podcast here
"This plane arrives from Shanghai. We have two import areas for masks in China: Shanghai and Shenzhen," he added. "In these planes, there are between eight and thirteen million masks." In all, 230 flights have already brought over 500 million masks in recent weeks. Cargoes will soon arrive by boat, bringing the number of masks delivered each week from China to France to 150 million.
CORONAVIRUS ESSENTIALS
> How many deaths at home should be added to the epidemic?
> What is the purpose of AlloCOVID, the telephone platform that uses artificial intelligence?
> Why we will have to wait before finding masks in pharmacies
> Coronavirus: can the MMR vaccine be dangerous for children?
> These platforms which help to find a job during confinement
For the general public, masks can be purchased in supermarkets from May 4. La Poste can also distribute them.