Coronavirus masks that France ordered from China were bought at the last minute by the United States as they waited to be loaded onto cargo planes, French officials have said.
"Americans pay three or four times the amount we pay, and in cash," said Jean Rottner, head of France's eastern region, one of the areas worst affected by the coronavirus outbreak,
according to reports by France Info.
On Thursday, a planeload of Chinese-made face masks were bought up right on the tarmac just as the much needed protective gear was about to set off for France.
"We're working around the clock to ensure these masks arrive," says Rottner, blaming unfair competition for delays.
The United States, which now has the highest number of known cases of coronavirus in the world, is trying to procure any masks available, disrupting deliveries to other nations,
another report by French daily Liberation indicated.
The east of France nonetheless received 2 million masks from China on Wednesday, to the delight of its president.
"I was very happy to see that airplane arriving in our region last night," Rottner said.
France has ordered
more than one billion face masks, a quarter from China, as it battles the pandemic and currently has less than three weeks worth of supplies.
www.rfi.fr
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