On March 31, French President Emmanuel Macron visited France's largest mask manufacturer, during which Macron not only wore a mask, but also wore a protective suit and a medical protective hat. The first time Macron wore a mask in public since the outbreak of covid-19 was six days ago, when he inspected a field hospital. Prior to this, Macron had repeatedly inspected hospitals treating patients with new coronary pneumonia without wearing masks, which aroused public concern.
Macron never wore a mask, to wear a mask, and then to this "fully armed" to inspect the mask factory, during which the epidemic in France is developing rapidly.
French President Macron.
Hospitals that received patients were inspected several times without wearing masks
Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in France, the French government and authority figures have repeatedly stressed that wearing masks is of no use in preventing the virus. French Health Minister Vilan also repeatedly said on television: "If you are not sick, there is no need to wear a mask on the street, it has no effect".
In fact, on March 8, the number of confirmed cases in France has exceeded 1,000, reaching 1,126, and since then it has been increasing at a rate of 200 to 300 cases per day, but the French government and people have behaved very "calmly". French President Emmanuel Macron has visited hospitals treating COVID-19 patients several times, and he has not worn a mask in public.
French government spokesman Sibes Ndiaye said at a meeting of ministers on March 17 about masks: "The president does not need to wear a mask as long as he maintains an appropriate distance from others", "Neither a doctor nor a patient, then for ordinary people, there is no need to wear a mask", "French people do not have to go to pharmacies to buy masks, because if we are not sick, there is no need to wear masks." ”
Ndier has since added: "President Macron (who visited hospitals and other institutions) did not wear masks because we did not have to wear masks if we kept a safe distance from others." She noted that the number of people around the president is limited and has always maintained the necessary distance of one meter.
Before entering the hospital, Macron put on a mask.
More than 25,000 confirmed cases were observed in field hospitals wearing masks
On the afternoon of March 25, Local time in France, Macron visited Mulhouse, a city hit hardest by the epidemic in the east, inspected the field hospital that had just been completed and began to receive critically ill patients, and cheered up the medical staff. Footage showed him wearing a mask in public before entering the hospital. This is the first time Macron has worn a mask in public since the outbreak began.
The incident sparked heated discussion and irony among the French people. On the one hand, the public pointed out that his mask was FFP2 model (EU standard, similar to the N95 type), which was significantly better than the people around him, and complained about the lack of medical staff; on the other hand, the people were ridiculous about the government's inconsistent words and deeds. "Can you imagine a country telling you for a long time that you don't have to wear a mask without an infection during the pandemic (a lie that masks are lacking), and then the president appears on TV wearing a mask. This country is our country. ”
At this time, the COVID-19 epidemic in France has reached a very serious point. On March 25, the cumulative number of confirmed covid-19 cases in France exceeded 25,000, and the number of deaths exceeded 1,300.
When Macron inspected a mask production plant near Angers on March 31, he wore hair masks, masks and one-piece protective clothing in accordance with the regulations.
Confirmed cases soared to more than 50,000, and "heavily armed" went to inspect the mask factory
Six days later, on March 31, the cumulative number of confirmed cases had soared to 52,128, more than doubling; the cumulative number of deaths was 3,523, nearly three times that of six days earlier.
French President Emmanuel Macron visited the factory of French mask manufacturer Kolmi-Hopen in Saint-Barthélemy-d'Anjou on the same day. In the factory's workshop that produces FFP2 masks, Macron rarely wears protective clothing, masks and medical protective hats.
Kolmi-Hopen, the largest mask producer in France, has been producing masks at full capacity 24 hours a day, seven days a week since the outbreak began. The head of the company said that the number of masks produced by the factory has now reached 5 to 6 times that of the previous one.
During the visit, Macron spoke and announced that 4 billion euros would be allocated exclusively for public health in France to ensure the production and supply of medical and health supplies, such as masks and ventilators in France. At the same time, the decision was made: from today, in the next three to four weeks, France will produce 1 million masks per day, and by the end of April, the number of masks will be produced every week by more than 10 million. Macron stressed that the masks are not FFP2 masks "for use by healthcare workers." The French company will produce 95 different standards of tested masks for those in other industries who have come into contact with the public. The president specifically listed transporters, firefighters, law enforcement officers, cashiers and post office employees. At the same time, he expressed the hope that by the end of this year, France can achieve "self-sufficiency" in masks.
When Macron made this decision, France's epidemic prevention materials were already extremely scarce. Since the implementation of the "lockdown" measures, French supermarkets have been facing a shortage of masks, gloves and hand sanitizer. In many places, cashiers can only use plastic wrap or plexiglass panels to install a protective wall for themselves.
The number of new confirmed cases and deaths in a single day reached a new high
On March 31, France experienced the "darkest" day of the epidemic. France added 7,578 new cases of COVID-19 and 499 deaths from COVID-19, the largest number of new confirmed cases and deaths in France in a single day since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
For three consecutive days, the number of new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in France has risen sharply. On March 29, there were 2599 cases, 4376 cases on the 30th, an increase of 68%; the number of new cases reached 7578 on the 31st, an increase of 73%.
New deaths have also soared in the past three days, with 292 on March 29, 418 on the 30th, and 499 on the 31st. As of March 31, the cumulative number of deaths was 3,523, surpassing That of China.
Jerome Salomon, director of the French Health Agency, said at a press conference on the 31st that the number of cases has risen by 17% in 24 hours due to the continuous increase in testing efforts. "Currently only hospital deaths are counted on a daily basis, but data on nursing home deaths will soon be aggregated, which could lead to a significant increase in the number of deaths registered."
(Comprehensive European Times, Overseas Network, Xinhua News Agency, China News Network)
Editor: Liang Jianzhong