The mask is at the heart of the health crisis created by the Covid-19 pandemic. But also controversies which agitate France for several weeks. Its use, first: the mask was not recommended for everyone and finally if. Its scarcity then, the nursing staff having long denounced a shortage which put them in danger.
And for a few days, finally, and the announcement of the sale of hundreds of millions of units in supermarkets this Monday, it is this sudden profusion of masks that is now criticized. In particular by health personnel.
A new controversy around the masks that the government is trying to put out. This Monday morning, Bruno Le Maire, Minister of the Economy, thus spoke of a "bad controversy". Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, at the time of describing his plan for deconfinement in the Senate a few hours later, being even obliged to deny any "hidden stock" by the large distribution.
What does the world blame for health?
Thursday, April 30, a press release signed by seven presidents of orders (doctors, pharmacists, dentists, midwives, masseurs-physiotherapists, pedicures-podiatrists, nurses) is published with this title: "The masks fall". They commonly denounce the “profusion” of masks soon available at Leclerc, Intermarché, Casino, Lidl, Carrefour, Franprix… “100 million here, 50 million there. Who says better? It is the escalation of indecency ”, one can read in this text.
"Where were these masks when our doctors, our nurses, our pharmacists, our dental surgeons, our physiotherapists, our podiatrists, our midwives but also all our personnel directly in contact with the disease trembled and fell every morning ? How will our patients, especially the most fragile, who were told until yesterday that they could not benefit from adequate protection, will they understand that what did not exist yesterday is becoming abundant today? "
By this press release, the world of health claims "accounts" after several difficult weeks. Nurses, pharmacists and doctors have faced a shortage of masks since the start of the pandemic, forcing some to turn to other solutions. What causes today "their disgust". The day after the publication of this press release, the order of dental surgeons however dissociated itself from the movement, explaining that it had not validated its content.
How is the mass market reacting?
In our columns, the president of the Federation of Commerce and Supermarkets Jacques Creyssel underlines a controversy which "is not worthy": "The government asked pharmacists, but also tobacconists and mass retailers to provide masks to all French people. We are very proud of this new mission, which we will carry out from Monday, May 4, without making any margins ”. Adding that "the figures announced are those of orders placed, which will arrive gradually".
Controversies over mask stocks: why create professional quarrels? The government gave the same ...
Gepostet von Michel-Edouard Leclerc am Freitag, 1. May 2020"We must stop the delirium," carried away Michel-Edouard Leclerc, boss of the eponymous brand, denouncing a press release "defamatory and outrageous". "It is not a question of doing business with masks, moreover they will be sold at cost price. Everything is transparent with the administrative authorities. This controversy is absurd. "The large retail sector as a whole claims to have respected government directives and reiterates its assertion:" There are no hidden stocks ".
What political decisions?
The political resumption of this subject was not long in coming. As of Friday, Jean-Luc Mélenchon (LFI) said he was "disgusted" faced with the figures announced for future stocks by large retailers. Gironde Senator Nathalie Delattre (MR) asked for the creation of a commission of inquiry on the subject, in a letter to the President of the Senate Gérard Larcher and sent to AFP.
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"Either mass distribution has a striking power infinitely greater than that of the State and has managed to obtain as many masks in such a short time, and in this case the commission will have to shed all the light on the inadequacies of the national decision-making chain. Either large distribution makes fun of the health of the French people, and will have to answer this question: how many lives could have been saved if these stocks had been distributed rather than being stored while waiting to be sold ", she writes .
This Saturday, Renaud Muselier (LR), president of the PACA region, gave "three days to mass distribution to prove that it did not have a secret stock of masks during the crisis" and that "if this is confirmed" , a criminal complaint would be filed.
At the heart of this controversy, Olivier Véran, Minister of Health, assured Sunday in our columns that the nursing staff would not be forgotten: "Up to now, we have destocked 45 million masks per week intended for health professionals. From May 11, 100 million will be distributed to them free of charge ”. In addition, the government has announced a capped price for surgical masks sold in department stores: 95 cents maximum.