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Medical Supplies: The Many Defects in “Made-in-China” Medical Supplies

Amidst the coronavirus pandemic, the China produced medical supplies, including face masks and personal protective equipment (PPE), are widely scrutinized around the world. The following are a collection of reports from countries that found defects in these “made-in-China” supplies.

#1 U.S.: On May 8, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) allowed 14 Chinese manufacturers to supply N95 face masks to the U.S., way below the 80 manufacturers that had done so previously. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) tested 67 types of imported face masks and found about 60 percent failed the U.S. required safety measurement. For example, a Chinese manufacturer whose export license the FDA had revoked, produced face masks that could only filter out 24 to 35 percent of the micro particles, way below the required 95 percent standard. (Central News Agency)

#2 U.S.: The State of Illinois spent nearly $17 million buying KN95 masks. An alert from the Illinois Department of Public Health said that the KN95 masks might not meet performance standards and counterfeit masks are “flooding the marketplace.” It recommended that agencies remove the KN95 masks that have already been received. (Fox News)

#3 Canada: The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) said that it had found that about 1 million KN95 face masks did not meet the requirements for the medical staff to be able to use them. Also, the city of Toronto announced that it would recall over 60,000 made-in-China face masks that had been provided to staff members at long-term care institutes. (Sing Tao Daily)

#4 Europe: On April 24, the Rapid Alert System for Dangerous Non-food Products, which the European Union had established, announced it had given the label of “Serious Warning” to four types of face masks that China made. The manufacturer of these four types of face masks had claimed that they met the N95/FFP2 requirement. (Central News Agency).

#5 U.K.: The Department of Health admitted that none of the 3.5million finger-prick tests ordered from mainly Chinese manufacturers in March passed accuracy checks. The Government wants its money back.

Netherlands: The Dutch health ministry recalled 600,000 face masks at the end of March because they did not fit and the filters were defective.

Spain: The government found 60,000 testing kits from China failed accuracy tests.

Slovakia: Prime Minister Igor Matovic said a million face masks from China were so inaccurate they should “be thrown straight into the Danube.”

Ireland: The Irish government issued an ultimatum to China after healthcare workers on the front-line found that 20 percent of the £176million-worth of PPE it had bought from China was unusable. (Daily Mail)

#6 Finland: The government of Finland said that the 2 million face masks it bought from China did not meet the requirements and thus were not suitable for hospital use. (Radio France International)

#7 Austria and Italy: At end of March, several million China-made face masks and PPE arrived in Austria. Part of the shipment was supposed to have been re-shipped to Italy. After Austria conducted tests, it found they didn’t meet the requirements. (Epoch Times)

#8 Australia: The Australian Border Force (ABF) officers have intercepted several deliveries of PPE that were found to be counterfeit or otherwise faulty. One law enforcement official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, estimated the ABF had already seized 800,000 masks with a combined value of more than $1.2 million on the Australian market. (ABC)

#9 India: India cancelled an order for 500,000 testing kits from China because the accuracy rate of these testing kits was only 5 percent. (Epoch Times)

#10 Pakistan: Pakistan found out that the N95 face masks that China provided to them were made from women’s bras and were completely different from the CCP’s claim of “high-quality” face masks. Pakistan’s media were angry and said, “China cheated us.” (Epoch Times)

Related postings on Chinascope:

1. Excerpt in Chinese:

美國FDA今天宣布,核准14家中國廠商製造供美國使用的N95口罩,數量遠少於先前的80家左右。一名FDA官員表示,FDA動用一切權力增加供給,但愈來愈多口罩達不到進口流程加速下的效能標準。

隸屬美國疾病管制暨預防中心(CDC)的國家工作安全與保健研究中心(NIOSH)近期檢驗發現,美國進口的口罩中,約60%至少有一個樣本微粒過濾達不到美國許可標準。NIOSH共檢驗67種口罩,每種各有10個樣本。

一名CDC官員說,有些口罩微粒過濾「明顯低於」標準。

NIOSH檢驗發現,一家許可遭FDA撤銷的中國廠商製造的口罩只過濾24%至35%微粒,遠低於N95口罩須阻擋95%微粒的標準。檢驗結果指出,這款口罩外包裝宣稱過濾水準達「五星級」,且未經授權使用美國FDA標誌。

Source: Central News Agency, May 8, 2020
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/firstnews/202005080015.aspx

2. Source: Fox News, April 17, 2020

Illinois and Missouri spent millions on masks from China that are now being recalled in other states

3. Excerpt in Chinese:

加拿大公共卫生局(Public Health Agency of Canada,简称PHAC

联邦卫生部及PHAC的发言人莫里塞特(Eric Morrissette)莫里塞特称,迄今为止,PHAC已发现大约100万个KN95口罩,不符合医护人员使用的标准。这些口罩并未分发到各省和地区的一线医疗机构用于应对疫情,现在它们正在被评估用于非医疗机构的可能性。政府希望这些口罩可以转用于对面部遮盖要求不严格的非医护工作人员。

联邦政府今次公布的收到不合格口罩的消息,只是本国政府购买到不合格设备的一个最新实例。

多伦多市在4月初宣布,将回收超过6万个中国制造、且已提供给长期护理机构工作人员的问题口罩,并正在调查护理人员在佩戴这些口罩时,是否被暴露于新冠病毒之下。这些口罩已分发到长期护理设施中,在接到容易撕裂的报告后被回收。

Source: Sing Tao Daily, April 24, 2020

加拿大从中国购买百万口罩 不符合医护人员使用标准

#4. Excerpt in Chinese:

歐盟為保障消費者健康安全所設立「非食品產品快速警示系統」(rapid alert system for dangerous non-food products)於4月24日最新公告警示產品,在屬於「嚴重」(Serious)警示產品中,接連出現4項中國製口罩,在當前2019年冠狀病毒疾病(COVID-19,武漢肺炎)蔓延,歐洲急需口罩等個人防護裝備,中國的不合格口罩反而可能讓民眾暴露在感染風險中。

這4項產品自稱是屬於N95/FFP2等級口罩,但檢測後發現實際過濾能力不足,最差過濾效率甚至低於50%。歐盟在警示中除表示產品不符合歐盟標準,更嚴重的是若不採取其他保護措施,會增加感染風險。歐盟要求進口商必須標示產品風險警告。

Source: Central News Agency, April 26, 2020
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/firstnews/202004260003.aspx

5. Source: Daily Mail, April 11, 2020
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8211427/Government-demands-money-China-3-5-million-antibody-tests-faulty.html

6. Excerpt in Chinese:

芬兰政府周三表示,从中国购买的200万只防范新冠病毒的口罩不合标准,并不适合在医院使用。

芬兰当局发现买来的口罩并没有严格遵守防止新冠病毒的规定标准。卫生部一位官员对媒体说:“我们当然感到很失望”。

Source: Radio France International, April 8, 2020
http://www.rfi.fr/cn/中国/20200408-芬兰发现从中国购买的200万只口罩不合标准

7. Excerpt in Chinese:

3月底数百万件来自中国的口罩和防护用品到达奥地利,部分运往意大利。据西方媒体曝光,这批口罩存在“严重缺陷”,并公布了两份鉴定结果。

这批口罩包括两种类型,一种是简易的外科口罩,另一种是KN95口罩,后者的质量本应该介于欧洲FFP2和FFP3(适用于重症室)之间。鉴定结果显示,这些口罩很大一部分有质量问题,无法紧贴脸颊和下巴。

Source: Epoch Times, April 7, 2020
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/20/4/7/n12011090.htm

8. Source: ABC, April 1, 2020
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-01/coronavirus-chinese-ppe-border-force-intercepted/12085908

9. Excerpt in Chinese:

中国制防疫商品又出状况。由于从中国公司买来的中共病毒快筛检测试剂盒的准确率只有5%,印度已取消约50万个试剂盒的订单。

周一(4月27日),德里高等法院裁定检测价格的上限,并认定政府支付太高的费用。

但是,印度政府官员告诉当地媒体,取消向中国公司购买试剂盒的订单,“不会损失一卢比”,因为他们没有提前付款,并且已取消了所有的交付。

周二(4月28日),中共驻印度大使馆并未表示道歉,反而在一份声明中指责他人对中国产品有偏见。

Source: Epoch Times, April 28, 2020
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/20/4/28/n12067936.htm

10. Excerpt in Chinese:

4月5日消息,中共向巴基斯坦提供的N95医用口罩,经巴基斯坦方面核查发现是用胸罩制成,与中共所承诺的“优质口罩”完全不同。

巴基斯坦媒体、医护人员怒斥,“中国(中共)骗了我们”。网友表示,“他们(中共)怎么一直送很烂的东西给别人”“如果中国(中共)称巴基斯坦是他们的朋友却还这样做,那想想他对其他国家会做什么”。据悉,巴基斯坦已有超过2800人感染。

Source: Epoch Times, April 5, 2020
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/20/4/5/n12005341.htm