Coronavirus outbreak: Four countries that received 'defective masks from China'

New Delhi, Apr 10: Several countries around the world are facing a severe shortage of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and coronavirus testing kits amid the ongoing pandemic.

In a recent report, Finland has become the latest country to publicly blame China for selling masks that do not meet its requirements.

According to reports, Finland, on Wednesday discovered that China did not meet its standard of protection for the use of medical environment after it received the first shipment of 2 million surgical masks and 2,30,000 respirator masks from China.

Recently, Spain, Netherlands, Turkey and Australia have returned masks that were brought from China, that forced the Chinese government to claim that nations have not "double checked" the products before purchasing them from China.

1/2 China export "defective" masks to the Netherlands? True story about masks purchased by a Dutch procurement agent: the Chinese manufacturer stated clearly that they are non-surgical & the exported customs clearing procedures were also under the name of "non-surgical masks".

— Spokesperson发言人办公室 (@MFA_China) April 2, 2020

However, here are four countries that claimed it received 'defective masks from China'.

Canada

On Wednesday, the Toronto city claimed that at least 62,600 surgical masks were returned after discovering that the masks do not match the city's standards.

In an official statement, it said that the order worth 2,00,000 dollars was received on March 28, but on receiving reports of them ripping, and tearing, the administration decided to return them to the vendor on the assurance of full refund.

Spain

The Spanish government claimed that 60,000 of 3,40,000 test kits from a Chinese manufacturer, did not accurately test for COVID-19.

However, the Chinese embassy in Spain posted a tweet, claiming that the company behind the kits, Shenzhen Bioeasy Biotechnology, did not have a license from Chinese medical authorities to sell its products.

Netherlands

In March, the Dutch Health Ministry claimed that it had returned around 6,00,000 face masks that arrived from China as they did not fit and that their filters did not work as intended, even though they had a quality certificate.

Turkey

Turkey also claimed that some of the testing kits it had ordered from Chinese companies were not accurate to use. However, it has said that around 3,50,000 kits showed results.