PARIS: A Paris court on Thursday handed a one-year prison sentence and a fine of 10,000 euros ($10,900) to a man caught selling face masks on the street, defying the government's order to reserve all masks for medical workers facing shortfalls because of the coronavirus outbreak.
It was the first conviction in the capital after several people were charged when police found illicit stocks of masks in recent weeks, a legal source told AFP. Officers found about 20,000 of the highly-protective FFP1 and FFP2 masks at the man´s home in the 19th district of Paris after an investigation was launched last weekend.
The source did not specify how much the man was charging for the masks. France is racing to ramp up production of face masks for health workers, and Health Minister Olivier Veran said Wednesday that the government had ordered 1.5 billion masks, mainly from Chinese producers.
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That compares with 3,770 for the same period last year and 4,162 for 2022, the previous record high