Interior Minister Christophe Castaner acknowledged on Friday the requisition by the state services of millions of masks imported from China at Basel-Mulhouse airport, to the detriment of orders from local authorities, due to incomplete deliveries .
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“The operated maneuver took the form of a requisition. Basically, this is a priority allocation of masks organized by the State, for the benefit of those whom we considered to need them most: health personnel, "said the Minister in an interview. to the regional daily in the Republican East. "The state has therefore prioritized the satisfaction of caregivers and patients, among the various customers of this supplier," he added.
Mask War
During questions to the government in the Senate on Wednesday, questioned on this subject, Christophe Castaner, without denying the facts, had affirmed that there had been "no requisition either by the army or by anyone", but that it was "a priority to provide nursing staff in the Grand Est region". "There is no question of a mask war between local authorities and the state," he added.
Read also: Bertille Bayart: "The mask war is also logistical"
Thursday, the East Republican had however published a photo of the decree "carrying requisition of surgical masks as part of the management of Covid-19", signed by the prefect of Haut-Rhin. The socialist president of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, Marie-Guite Dufay, had denounced on Monday a requisition "without consultation, or even prior information" of millions of masks on the tarmac of Basel-Mulhouse airport on arrival the day before from an airplane from China.
A truncated command
The same importer had taken orders from the Grand Est regional health agency, which supplies healthcare professionals, but also from the Grand Est and Bourgogne Franche-Comté regions and the Bouches-du-Rhône department.
However, the number of masks delivered was lower than all of the orders, since the aircraft "contained only 3.6 million masks - a volume less than the balance owed by the importer to the State - which were taken charged by the prefecture of the eastern defense and security zone with the assistance of the army's logistical resources, "said the prefecture of Grand Est in a statement on Monday.
Read also: Coronavirus: the war of masks rages at the foot of Chinese planes
Thursday, during a hearing before the parliamentary mission on the epidemic of Covid-19, Christophe Castaner had argued that there was "no questioning of the choice (of the prefect), but of the method" used described as "inappropriate".
He said that he said at the beginning of the week to all the prefects during a videoconference that "the method was inappropriate and there was no question of it happening again". "We should have been more considerate with local communities (...) I apologize because I know that the intention of the prefects and the ARS was to do the best," he reiterated on Friday , responding to the East Republican.
