“By the end of this month” of January, surgical masks (FFP1) will be distributed “to all teaching staff”, announced Jean Castex, this Thursday, on BFMTV / RMC, specifying to await an opinion of the health authorities on an extension of the use of FFP2 masks.
“With the Minister of National Education we have decided by the end of this month to provide all teaching staff with surgical masks”, declared the head of government.
Jean Castex (@JeanCASTEX) announces the distribution of surgical masks to all teachers “by the end of the month” pic.twitter.com/s7aB1JwIXU
– BFMTV (@BFMTV) January 6, 2022
FFP2 reserved for caregivers
Until now, these personnel had received fabric masks from their administration. Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer said Monday at Parisian having provided 160 million since the start of the pandemic. But faced with the rapid spread of the Omicron variant, which is particularly contagious, a debate has arisen on the extension, to civil servants as to the entire population, of wearing the FFP2 mask, which is more filtering.
But Jean-Michel Blanquer has ruled out the possibility of distributing it to teachers because “it is very difficult to teach with it”. Asked about a generalization of FFP2, for the time being mainly intended for caregivers, Jean Castex said he had “re-entered the High Council of Public Health which will have to give us its opinion on Friday”. “If he tells us to change this doctrine, we will change this doctrine,” said the head of government.