Coronavirus: France limits the sale of chinstrap …

Before the advance of the British variant of Corona virus, the government of France updated its chinstrap sales policy to limit the use of unhygienic masks with a particle filtering capacity of less than 90%. The measure was taken after other countries like Germany and Austria banned the use of cloth masks in public spaces.

The new provision, which appears this Thursday in the Moniteur français, regulates the marketing of non-surgical masks and also increases the distance safety recommended in case of non-wearing protection up to two meters, instead of the meter recommended so far.

More specifically, the French executive is considering protective masks those for surgical use or equivalent and the FFP2 and FFP3 without valve.

Masks reserved for non-sanitary use, usually handmade or fabric, will only be approved if the leakage to the outside of the emitted particles of 3 microns is greater than 90%, the breathability allows four hours of use and the air permeability is over 96 liters per square meter per second.

In addition, the shape of the mask must ensure facial fit with nose and chin cover without sagittal seam. Your performance levels should persist after at least five washes. For their sale, the consumer must be informed in a visible and easily accessible way whether or not these masks meet health regulations.

Last week, the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, advised against the use of homemade masks or poorly filtering fabric, all the more in view of the greater virulence of the new strains circulating.

The spokesperson for the executive, Gabriel Attal, said this Thursday on the France Inter channel that the variant detected in the United Kingdom currently represents 10% of cases of contagion detected in France, compared to the 3.2 he assumed at the start of the month. “The situation is very worrying,” said Attal, who did not rule out a new strict quarantine, which would be the third since the start of the pandemic.

The French government also mixes extend the February school vacation period by two weeks. Its onset or end could be extended depending on the epidemic situation.