Coronavirus: France to ramp up face masks, respirators production
March 31, 2020, 3:51 pm

Coronavirus: France to ramp up face masks, respirators production

Medical workers are seen at the pulmonology unit at a hospital in Vanne, France. (File photo Reuters)

France plans to quickly ramp up domestic production of face masks and respirators to respond to the urgent needs of hospitals and caregivers during the coronavirus epidemic, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday. Coronavirus: France

Macron said consumption of face masks in France had soared from four million per week to more than 40 million and the state’s pre-crisis inventory of 140 million masks was insufficient.

“Before, we believed that we could import masks quickly and in great quantity from the other side of the world ... and that we did not need to store billions and billions of face masks,” Macron said during a visit to the Kolmi-Hopen face mask factory near Angers, western France.

He added the world has changed and that there is now unprecedented tension on global markets and that France needed to boost domestic production to become self-sufficient. France has ordered more than one billion face masks from China and the first orders are already arriving, Macron said.

France’s four face mask factories will also boost their combined output from 3.3 million per week before the start of the crisis to 10 million per week by end April, and production by new players such as car parts maker Faurecia, tire maker Michelin and retailer Intermarché will push total output to 15 million per week, Macron said.

Also, in three to four weeks the country will be able to produce a million masks per day for people in other professions than the medical sector, he said.

Macron said a consortium led by respirator maker Air Liquide and including car parts maker Valeo, carmaker PSA, and Schneider Electric, will produce some 10,000 ventilators by mid-May.

Some 250 emergency rooms ventilators will be delivered in the coming eight days, he added.

France has also boosted its production of disinfecting hand gel from 40,000 liters per day to 500,000 liters per day. Coronavirus: France

The French government will fund the purchase of masks and ventilators with a 4 billion euro ($4.4 billion) boost to the state health budget.

source: Reuters levant

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BENEFIT, the Kingdom’s innovator and leading company in Fintech and electronic financial transactions service, has sponsored the BuildHer CityHack 2025 Hackathon, a two-day event spearheaded by the College of Engineering and Technology at the Royal University for Women (RUW).
Aimed at secondary school students, the event brought together a distinguished group of academic professionals and technology experts to mentor and inspire young participants.
More than 100 high school students from across the Kingdom of Bahrain took part in the hackathon, which featured an intensive programme of training workshops and hands-on sessions. These activities were tailored to enhance participants’ critical thinking, collaborative problem-solving, and team-building capabilities, while also encouraging the development of practical and sustainable solutions to contemporary challenges using modern technological tools.
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Professor Riyadh Yousif Hamzah, President of the Royal University for Women, commented: “This initiative reflects our commitment to advancing women in STEM fields. We're cultivating a generation of creative, solution-driven female leaders who will drive national development. Our partnership with BENEFIT exemplifies the powerful synergy between academia and private sector in supporting educational innovation.”
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For his part, Dr. Humam ElAgha, Acting Dean of the College of Engineering and Technology at the University, said: “BuildHer CityHack 2025 embodies our hands-on approach to education. By tackling real-world problems through creative thinking and sustainable solutions, we're preparing women to thrive in the knowledge economy – a cornerstone of the University's vision.”