Question asked by Lucienne on 04/19/2020
Hello,
Masks intended for the general public should play an important role in the post-containment period. In any case, this is what the various speeches by the authorities seem to indicate in recent days. To start with that of the President of the Republic, on March 16, which suggested a possible systematization of the wearing of the mask, in particular in public transport from May 11. So you wonder where to get it and how.
In fact, the dissemination of masks to the general public or to patients of the Covid-19, that is to say to the entire population excluding healthcare personnel, remains a thorny subject. At the moment it is complicated to buy them as a private citizen. Whether it be FFP2 masks, so-called surgical masks, or even reusable fabric masks established according to precise specifications.
Sunday, April 19, the Prime Minister, Edouard Philippe, and the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, in turn addressed the issue, saying that the masks for the general public should be deployed in addition to the barrier gestures. “Scientific authorities are currently assessing things and, without delay, the State has mobilized the textile manufacturers to manufacture masks intended for the general public.“Neither surgical nor FFP2, they meet standards and”guarantee an interesting level of efficiency“Said the Minister of Health, who said that eight million masks were produced last week in France, the target being set at around 17 million per week thanks to the import and reorientation of assembly lines. “You will soon see them, they are made of fabric, washable and reusable five, twenty, thirty times…“Promises Olivier Véran, who wishes to engage the state, communities and also large retailers in their upcoming dissemination. Requested by CheckNews, the Directorate General for Health has not indicated whether the eight million reusable masks already produced have been sold and if so, through what means.
The big blur
A very vague promise, from the point of view of pharmacies, to which common sense leads to turn in priority. Because, at present, these pharmacies are neither authorized to give surgical masks to honor doctors’ prescriptions for patients with Covid-19 nor to hold or distribute textile protective masks to the population which does, however Requirement. At issue, two main obstacles: first, the doctrine of the State, disseminated by alert messages from the Directorate General of Health to health professionals (DGS-urgent). The last one, dated April 7, clearly states again that the masks sent to pharmacies via wholesale distributors are to be distributed to healthcare professionals. General practitioners, midwives, masseurs or even home help workers can therefore go to a pharmacy to collect their stock. But certainly not everyone. “Beyond the state doctrine, there is an absence of updating of what is called the positive list, that is to say the list, established by the public health code, which includes all products that can be held and authorized for sale in pharmaciesExplains to CheckNews Carine Wolf-Thal, President of the National Council of the College of Pharmacists. However, for the moment, no decree has come to modify this famous list, in order to include masks (first surgical, and possibly later reusable textile masks placed on the market) for the general public. The order of pharmacists thus formulated, last week, an official request to the State and waits for a response within two weeks.
For his part, Philippe Besset, president of the federation of pharmacists (FSPF), realizes the same observation and summarizes: “The heart of my problem, this is the decree of March 23. This decree, in fact, authorizes imports of masks, which are more and more numerous to arrive on French territory. But from there, what do we do with it? For now, this is the total blur on the way forward. When I see a patient arrive with a prescription, I cannot give him a mask. It is up to his doctor to provide him, from his personal stock, if he considers it necessary.“
Large distribution
In terms of distribution to the general public, the impatience and misunderstanding of pharmacists is all the stronger since large retailers now seem to enter the dance. “When we see that large retailers are getting into it and pharmacies are still banned from distributing them, we ask ourselves questions “, loose Carine Wolf-Thal. The CDiscount brand has indeed announced Sunday April 19 having ordered 60 million surgical masks in China in order to put them on sale in France. Their price: 75 cents per unit, with a minimum of 50 masks per order. But then again, the average citizen will not have access to it. The sale of these masks is only accessible on the CDiscount pro platform, intended for VSEs and SMEs, with the aim of “ceconomic continuity “, indicates the brand to CheckNews.
However, beyond the private orders placed piecemeal, an association is trying to generalize the mass-market mask manufacturing circuit, known as “barrier masks” It’s Afnor, the French standardization association, which has put in place since March 27 a specification produced by experts (laboratories, teaching hospitals, brands, etc.), with the aim of globalizing the manufacture of reusable filter masks, used in addition to social distancing. Currently, tells us a spokesperson for the association, the model has been downloaded more than 600,000 times and since April 8, a platform connecting manufacturers and applicants (the applicants being individuals, companies and public services) was born. Proof of a very high demand, the waiting list is long: 1,659 manufacturers are listed, against 35,000 applicants.
The association of general interest specifies to keep the State informed of its progress and should carry out new tests this week on the types of fabric used, to know, in particular, if it is effective to make a mask from the tissues that you can find at home: a T-shirt or a tea towel, for example. The issue of distribution, too, is still pending. “We have a lot of all-round contacts with pharmacies, La Poste, mass distribution, for availability. We are looking for relay points and we are also working on the terms of sale at cost or free.“Afnor also notes a”very large mobilization of cities and local communities that make calls for tenders and that we try to link with companies that respect our specifications. But you have to be patient, the distribution has not yet been completed. We are still in the making phase” Until the production of reusable masks promised by the government normalizes and finds relay points, the artisanal option, following the model proposed by Afnor, is a serious alternative.
EDIT 8:05 pm: details on the number of manufacturers referenced by Afnor.
Regards,
Anaïs Condomines
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