Faced with the Omicron variant, a surgical mask is less effective, assures Saturday January 8 on franceinfo Christian Curel, the president of the union of French mask manufacturers, who recommends the FFP2 mask instead. Italy and Austria have made it compulsory in certain situations, the French government says it is awaiting the opinion of the High Council of Public Health.
franceinfo: How are these FFP2 masks made and why are they more protective?
These masks have several layers. The surgical mask, when you wear it, only protects the people in front of you. The FFP2 mask also protects you. This is its usefulness against a variant like Omicron, because a surgical mask is almost ineffective for Omicron. You have a study published in the United States [du PNAS, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, le 7 décembre 2021] which says that with surgical masks you have a 30% chance of catching it, and 0.4% with an FFP2 in the same situation [NDLR : dans le cas où deux personnes portent un masque et où la personne infectée est en train de parler. Dans le cas des masques chirurgicaux, l’étude précise que le risque de contamination reste en-dessous de 30% et non pas qu’il est de 30%]. Since the start of the epidemic, people at risk should have FFP2.
Demand is leaping in France at the moment. At what point ?
It’s a little irrational. Since Christmas, there are indeed a lot of requests. I think people are pretty worried, and so they stock up to avoid running out of FFP2, although there is little chance that there will be any stockouts.
Suppose the Public Health Council recommends it for more situations than today. Could you ensure supply in the face of increased demand?
Absolutely. First, there are quite a few stocks with our manufacturers today. There is also significant production capacity.
“You can go up quite easily to 40.50 million FFP2 masks per week in production.”
Christian Curel, president of the union of French mask manufacturersto franceinfo
And in the worst-case scenario for caregivers, there is also a strategic stock that has been built up, a reserve that did not exist two years ago.
How much do these FFP2 masks cost on average?
They are more expensive than surgical masks. The material cost is already 5 times higher. Intermarché sells them for 0.23 cents per unit, but it is their own production and at cost price, so that is not necessarily the price that must be set. I think you are going to have masks around 50 cents for example. Italy has imposed a maximum price of 70 cents, and when I see masks over 1 euro, I find it very expensive for this type of mask.