LVMH has pledged 40 million masks to counter the surgical mask shortage in France. The luxury group has, in fact, made its first 10 million orders this week. The masks will be distributed to French health authorities in the coming days.

The initial order, which consists of 7 million surgical masks and 3 million FFP2 masks, was made with a Chinese supplier. A similar placement will be repeated for at least four weeks, which tallies the total to approximately 40 million masks.

Bernard Arnault has arranged for the fashion group to finance the whole of the first week of deliveries worth 5 million euros.

Aside from the masks, the luxury company will also manufacture hand sanitizers in three of its perfume and cosmetics factories to combat shortages due to the coronavirus.