France ordered 250 million medical masks to alleviate the shortage. Frontline doctors in France were furious because of a shortage, while p...
France ordered 250 million medical masks to alleviate the shortage. Frontline doctors in France were furious because of a shortage, while police threatened to quit work when the COVID-19 epidemic worsened.
French Minister of Health Olivier Veran - Photo: PARIS MATCH
French Health Minister Olivier Veran said France had ordered both domestic and foreign mask suppliers. He also promised to perform more tests for suspected cases.
"I want to tell the French people, especially the medical experts, that I understand and share their expectations and anger," Mr. Veran said at a press conference in the afternoon of 21-3.
He promised the government to look into the shortage of medical protective equipment in the near future. "We will keep in mind the lesson of how to prepare our country for this threat, I must remind you that this is the first public health crisis in a century," the ministry said. Chief said.
France is currently carrying out a blockade in two weeks from March 17. French citizens are only allowed to leave home to buy food, go to work, exercise alone or go to health facilities.
Paris earlier announced it would extend the blockade sale order if necessary. France currently has 14,459 cases of COVID-19, including 562 deaths.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the demand for protective equipment in the COVID-19 epidemic has increased in France as well as in other European countries.
Numerous facilities manufacturing this type of equipment in China, where the disease outbreaks, are still closed. The country is home to more than half of global masks, the WHO said.
Businesses such as LVMH, the owner of Louis Vuitton, or Crédit Agricole Bank have joined hands to provide a shortage of masks. LVMH said on March 21 that it had ordered 40 million medical masks.
In 2013, France decided to reduce the number of strategic reserve masks, after people protested the cost of hoarding during the H1N1 bird flu.
Ms. Phoenix
