Photo: Revellers wear masks to protect themselves from the COVID-19 illness as they attend the Nice carnival on the french riviera city of Nice, on February 25, 2020. /AFP

Paris (People's Daily)-The French government issued a decree on Wednesday requiring that until May 31, stocks of type FFP2 respiratory protection masks (equivalent to type N95 in China) and medical disposable masks held by "any legal person under public or private law” be turned over to authorities.

On Tuesday, French President Emmanuel Macron announced through Twitter that "we will requisition all protective masks produced and stocked and distribute them to medical personnel and French people infected by COVID-19.”

Protective products such as masks in France's pharmacies have long been out of stock, and some stock prices have increased several times. Recently, mask theft cases have occurred in hospitals in Nice, Marseille, Paris and other places.

According to the statistics of the Ministry of Solidarity and Health, as of Tuesday,there were 21 new cases of COVID-19 in France, for a total of 212.