FRANCE has ordered more than 1 billion face masks from China, the country’s health minister said Saturday, as the government scrambles to build up its supplies with the coronavirus outbreak showing no signs of easing.
Health Minister Olivier Veran said that an “air bridge” to China was being put in place.
France was using 40 million face masks weekly as it battles the pandemic and currently has three weeks worth of supplies, according to him.
Doctors, nursing home carers, the police and other frontline staff have decried a shortage of masks.
CNN reports that France can produce 8 million face masks a week but consumes 40 million each week.
A week ago, Veran said France had ordered over 250 million masks amid the coronavirus outbreak in the country.
As of Saturday, France had reported 37,575 confirmed cases and 2,314 deaths — with 319 new deaths in the last 24 hours, health authorities said.
On Friday, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe warned that an “extremely high” wave of the coronavirus epidemic would sweep the capital and its suburbs in coming days.
To overturn the rapid contagion curve, the French Government decided to prolong the containment period, set to end March 31, by two more weeks.
“After these first 10 days of confinement, it is clear that we are just at the beginning of this epidemic wave,” Philippe said.
Under the lockdown, declared March 17, people can only leave their homes to buy food and medicine, and all nonessential businesses have been closed. Open-air markets are shut down. People would be allowed to go out for a walk with their children or to exercise once a day for no more than one hour within 1 kilometer of their home. (SD-Xinhua) |