the State ordered to compensate plaintiffs who denounced the lack of masks

“The state committed a mistake.” Administrative justice confirmed on appeal, Friday October 6, the responsibility of the State in the constitution of an insufficient stock of masks before the Covid-19 epidemic and accepted partial compensation for certain people more exposed to the risk of contamination. Likewise, it confirms that “the State made a mistake in government communication on the usefulness of wearing a mask at the start of the epidemic”.

Around thirty plaintiffs took the State to court, judging that this attitude had directly contributed to the fact that they caught Covid-19. In June 2022, at first instance, the Paris administrative court only found in their favor in part. He judged that a direct link could not be established with the contaminations of the complainants.

Compensation for those most exposed to the virus

This time, the administrative court of appeal deemed partial compensation possible for certain people, more exposed to the risk of infection with Covid-19, in particular through their profession, and who could be considered as “deprived of a chance to escape contamination”. She thus ruled to compensate, for example, the family of a general practitioner, who died of Covid-19 in April 2020. He had received numerous patients at his office in Seine-Saint-Denis, including some carrying the virus, without having was able to obtain masks.

On the other hand, the Paris administrative court of appeal did not find fault on the part of the State on other accusations linked to crisis management, in particular on the date of the first confinement or screening.