Netherlands recalled “defective” masks from China
The Netherlands recalled $1.3 million worth of “defective” masks manufactured from China.
A Chinese manufacturer of masks sent around 600,000 masks to Dutch hospitals on March 21, based on the report from Deutsche Welle (dw.com). The Dutch government recently bought masks from China amid the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak.
However, the masks manufactured from China “failed to meet quality standards” and were recalled. After the inspection was conducted, it was found out that the FFP2 masks do not properly protect the face or they have defective filter membranes.
The masks should have fine filters that would prevent the virus from entering the mouth or nose. However, after inspections were conducted the masked failed several times.
Reportedly, the “defective” masks were already distributed to Dutch hospitals. The rest of the shipment is on hold as what Dutch Health Ministry decided to do. Based on the report, some hospitals already rejected the masks from China even before the Health Ministry recalled them.
“When they were delivered to our hospital, I immediately rejected those masks,” a source from a hospital said.
“A second test also revealed that the masks did not meet the quality norms. Now it has been decided not to use any of this shipment,” the Health Ministry said in a statement. The ministry also said that they will conduct more testings on future shipments.
Chinese manufacturer of masks also distributes its product in other countries such as Serbia, Liberia, France, Philippines, Czech Republic amid the COVID-19 outbreak, based on the report.
As of press time, there are over 9,700 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Netherlands and over 630 already died.
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