Swiss perspectives in 10 languages

France drops blocks on face mask exports to Switzerland

mask instructions
Doing it properly: instructions for wearing a FFP2 face mask. Keystone / Christian Beutler

After Germany, France has lifted restrictions on the delivery of hygienic face masks to Switzerland. Some two million masks are needed each day, according to the Federal Office for Public Health.

The French embassy to Switzerland made the announcementExternal link on Saturday, paving the way for two shipments of FFP2 hygienic masks to go ahead from France to Switzerland.

French authorities had initially taken precautionary measures to avoid speculation concerning sensitive products, the embassy wrote in a statement.

However, the measures were not meant to block the export of such equipment to neighbouring countries also fighting the virus. “Solidarity is a permanent combat,” it said, adding that France and Switzerland are cooperating on various fronts to mitigate the effects of Covid-19.

For example, borders between the two countries are closed to all but citizens, residents, cross-border workers, and goods; but authorities are cooperating to ensure flows of cross-border healthcare workers each day. Swiss hospitals have also accepted coronavirus patients from the Alsace region, to ease the crowding in some French hospitals.

The latest such move on this score was also announced by the French Ambassador on Sunday, who said 20 patients would be transferred from France to hospitals in eight Swiss cantons, in both the north- and south-west of the country.


External Content
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Almost finished… We need to confirm your email address. To complete the subscription process, please click the link in the email we just sent you.
Weekly top stories

Keep up to date with the best stories from SWI swissinfo.ch on a range of topics, straight into your mailbox.

Weekly

The SBC Privacy Policy provides additional information on how your data is processed.

Masks in their millions

The French announcement about the mask exports on Sunday comes after the director of the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) said on Saturday that all blockages – including those from Germany – had been resolved.

The European Union took the decision last weekend to authorize the export of medical equipment from its member states to the European Free Trade Area, of which Switzerland is a member. Bern has also decided to implement the decision in the other direction, and a licence is now needed to export masks, gloves, goggles and swabs as of March 26, the government said. 

On Friday, Daniel Koch of the FOPH told Swiss public television SRF that the hygienic masks were especially important for those working in the healthcare sector, and that the country’s stocks would be reserved for this sector above all.

The authorities currently have stocks of some 17 million masks, while two million are needed each day, Koch said.

The French, meanwhile, are reportedly using 40 million masks per week, and have ordered some 1 billion, mostly from China, to boost their supplies.


More

Popular Stories

Most Discussed

News

More than 1,100 Swiss cheeses on show in Lugano

More

Swiss Cheese Awards winners announced

This content was published on The three best Swiss cheeses were chosen on Friday in Lugano from over 1100 products submitted to an international jury.

Read more: Swiss Cheese Awards winners announced
Switzerland delivers equipment worth 5.6 million to Ukraine

More

Switzerland will deliver rubble removal equipment to Ukraine

This content was published on Thirty rubble removal machines and thirty fire-fighting pumps: this is the equipment that Switzerland will be delivering to the Ukraine in the next few days. The total value of these goods is 5.6 million Swiss francs.

Read more: Switzerland will deliver rubble removal equipment to Ukraine
Trees can live for thousands of years

More

Swiss-led study unravels tree growth and longevity

This content was published on Trees reach old age using different strategies. This is shown by a Swiss-led research team with over 100 scientists from all over the world in a new study, for which they analyzed trees that live to be over three thousand years old.

Read more: Swiss-led study unravels tree growth and longevity

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR