France hijacks masks and other PPE intended for EU: <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/coronavirus-european-solidarity-sidelined-as-french-interests-take-priority-1.4216184" rel="nofollow">https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/coronavirus-eur...</a><p>“On March 3rd, President Emmanuel Macron announced that he was requisitioning ‘all stocks and the production of protective masks’ for distribution to medical personnel and French people infected with Covid-19. One fifth of all surgical procedures in the EU use personal protective equipment imported from Asia by the Swedish company Mölnlycke. The company’s main distribution warehouse for southern Europe, Belgium and the Netherlands is in Lyon.”
Germany did the same thing to Switzerland (seized rather then outbid)<p><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-09/germany-faces-backlash-from-neighbors-over-mask-export-ban" rel="nofollow">https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-09/germany-f...</a><p>Countries that have the power are doing everything to ensure they have masks first. I'm not surprised France and US are doing it.
So what's going on? This article claims that millions of N95 respirators <i>located in the US</i> are queued up to be shipped overseas:<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/daviddisalvo/2020/03/30/i-spent-a-day-in-the-coronavirus-driven-feeding-frenzy-of-n95-mask-sellers-and-buyers-and-this-is-what-i-learned/" rel="nofollow">https://www.forbes.com/sites/daviddisalvo/2020/03/30/i-spent...</a><p>> By the end of the day, roughly 280 million masks from warehouses around the U.S. had been purchased by foreign buyers and were earmarked to leave the country, according to the broker — and that was in one day.<p>> To his knowledge none of the masks had been purchased by buyers in the U.S.
Shouldn't France be pissed off at China for re-selling the already sold masks? The US probably wasn't even told the masks in question were already sold.<p>The countries should coordinate who needs masks sooner, and work out the logistics. My wife is a nurse in the US and they literally don't have enough masks for nurses/doctors to wear.
SARS was 20 years ago. France has had 20 years to prepare for this but left it to the last minute. Of course the masks are going to the highest bidder, that's entirely predictable.
It is pretty ugly what is happening now. france seizing european masks. the us seizing french masks. dutch ventilators getting seized in the us. we're supposed to be allies. let's stop this now. Perhaps we can let nato take charge of mask distribution and procurement. Otherwise that thing with Italians getting russian aid might not be a one-off.
Meanwhile, Taiwan is donating 2 million masks to the US:<p><a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/defense-national-security/taiwan-to-donate-2m-hospital-masks-to-united-states" rel="nofollow">https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/defense-national-s...</a>
France gave back half of the Swedish masks (coming from the Molnlyncke supply in Lyon) and they were first seized in France, because of a French requisition law... Will the US Government give back half the plane they stole from French people in China?