France to convene emergency meetings following citizens' uproar over bedbugs infestation

The French government has announced plans to host emergency meetings this week to address the growing number of reported bedbug cases following an uproar by the society for the indifference shown by politicians for this significant potential public health concern.

As reported by France 24, a prominent French lawmaker had brought a glass containing a bedbug earlier this week to a parliamentary session to raise this issue after multiple social media went viral recording the insects crawling in public spaces and homes across France.

Opposition lawmaker Mathilde Panot confronted Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne with the problem, asking whether the people have to wait "for your office to be infested before you finally react?".

She warned that the issue was “spreading despair” around the country, referring to the bedbug problem having made it on the front pages of newspapers and being the hot topic on national television shows.

Paris is preparing to welcome millions of athletes and visitors for the 2024 Olympics and currently hosts the Rugby World Cup but the sanitary problem creates a significant headache for the French government as criticism grows louder on its inactions.

A handful of schools and a hospital have closed following reports of the insects being discovered, while the capital's public transport regulators received over 40 reports from commuters.