The Canadian government said Friday that about one million KN95 masks imported from China did not meet its standards and could not be distributed to health workers mobilized against the coronavirus.
The Public Health Agency of Canada “Identified about a million KN95 masks that do not meet government specifications,” a spokesman for the health ministry told AFP, confirming press reports.
These masks “were not distributed to the provinces and territories” engaged in the fight against the coronavirus, he specified. They will be “evaluated to determine their potential use in other environments” than that of health, he added.
NK95 masks are Chinese models similar to N95, themselves similar in terms of protection to the FFP2 used in Europe.
“A large part of the world’s supply” comes from “China and the transportation of materials from this country is very complex,” said Anita Anand, minister of public services and supply.
60 million masks ordered by the country
Canada-China relations have experienced an unprecedented crisis since the arrest in December 2018 in Vancouver of the financial director of the Chinese telecom giant Huawei, Meng Wanzhou, at the request of the United States.
Millions of N95 respirators and surgical masks are currently at the Public Health Agency of Canada for examination. In addition, domestic production is “increasing”: “This week, we signed contracts with three other Canadian companies,” added the minister.
The automaker General Motors (GM), which is forced to produce artificial respirators in the United States by the President, announced its side a partial conversion of its factory in Oshawa (Ontario) for the production of masks. He plans to manufacture “about one million masks per month” to “help Canada meet the urgent need for masks for health care professionals and other Canadians,” the group said.
In early April, Canada received more than 10 million masks and announced an order for more than 60 million N95 masks.
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