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News Clash

China Just Sent Canada 1 Million Substandard N95 Masks And Moldy Coronavirus Test Kits

China has been exporting personal protective equipment and coronavirus test kits all over the world that have been found to be faulty.

We’ve seen this kind of thing before.

This is precisely why American manufacturing is important.

Back before he was elected Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau said that he admires China’s “basic dictatorship” because it allows China to “turn their economy around on a dime.”

If you ask Canadians who are not Liberal trained seals, that admiration has turned into mimicry as the Liberal government tried to use the pandemic as an excuse for an unprecedented power-grab that would have given the government control of taxing and spending without parliamentary approval.

But perhaps some of the luster of China’s shiny, efficient dictatorship is rubbing off these days as Prime Minister Trudeau deals with faulty medical equipment from China.

In February, Canada gave 16 tons of PPE to China to help with the Wuhan coronavirus as China hoarded those supplies from around the world looking to corner the market.

China’s plan worked.

And now, they’re sending out faulty and outright defective equipment all over the world–even to their buddy, Justin.

The Canadian government says about one million of the face masks it has purchased from China have failed to meet proper standards for health care professionals and will not be distributed to provinces or cities…

…The Public Health Agency (PHAC) is screening all medical supplies it’s buying right now, and these masks were supposed to be rated to the KN95 standards for respirators. KN95 is a Chinese rating for respirators that is similar to the N95 rating developed by the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

The federal Department of Health says KN95 masks are an acceptable alternative to N95 models, but the masks in question did not meet the required filtering standards for N95-type masks, which are rated to capture 95 per cent of tiny particles…

…The Department of Health could not immediately answer last night when asked whether Ottawa is going to obtain a refund for the masks in question.

News of the substandard masks Ottawa received is just the latest example of faulty gear purchased by Canadian governments. The City of Toronto announced in early April it was recalling more than 60,000 faulty surgical masks made in China and provided to staff at long-term care facilities, and is investigating whether caregivers were exposed to COVID-19 while wearing the equipment. The masks were distributed and then recalled after reports of ripping and tearing.
Source: The Globe And Mail

The masks are unusable in a medical setting, but the government is looking at repurposing them for non-healthcare workers.

It’s not the first incident of faulty medical equipment coming from China to Canada.

When testifying before the Commons health committee Deputy Public Works Minister Bill Matthews told committee members that 100,000 of the coronavirus test swabs sent to Canada by China were contaminated with mould.

As exclusively reported by True North, the City of Toronto said that the 200,000 faulty masks manufactured in China were never tested before having to be recalled and replaced after healthcare professionals reported that they were “ripping and tearing.”
Source: True North

In addition, there was a bit of a hullaballoo when two Canadian planes went to China to pick up medical supplies and flew home empty. According to one Canadian government official, the two planes were given take-off times because of a surge in cargo planes at the Shanghai airport as governments around the world struggle to procure personal protective equipment to deal with the pandemic. The significant increase in cargo planes meant congestion on the ground which prevented the cargo from reaching the planes before their allotted take-off time. China has also imposed restrictions so that foreign flight crews don’t stay in a hotel overnight because the Chinese government is concerned about a second COVID outbreak.

When questioned about it during his daily coronavirus presser, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that the planes returned empty because, “there are severe restrictions on the ground in China in terms of how long a plane can actually stay in their airports before having to leave – whether it’s full or not.” He also noted that “supply lines and shipments to the airport are difficult and interrupted by checkpoints and quarantine measures.”

China’s foreign ministry denies Trudeau’s claims, however, saying that there are no ground restrictions at the airport in Shanghai where the planes landed.

“As to the incident involving two Canadian flights returning empty, we have checked with the competent department and found relevant reports to be inaccurate,” Geng Shuang, a spokesman for the foreign ministry, told a press briefing.

“Relevant airports and civil aviation authorities place no limit on the ground time of chartered cargo planes.”
Source: The Globe And Mail

Maybe the Canadian Prime Minister shouldn’t be so quick to come to China’s defense on the world stage and laud the efficiency of their “basic dictatorship”.

It’s just not a good look when healthcare workers don’t have masks that actually work because they were sent to China in February.

K. Walker

ClashDaily's Associate Editor since August 2016. Self-described political junkie, anti-Third Wave Feminist, and a nightmare to the 'intersectional' crowd. Mrs. Walker has taken a stand against 'white privilege' education in public schools. She's also an amateur Playwright, former Drama teacher, and staunch defender of the Oxford comma. Follow her humble musings on Twitter: @TheMrsKnowItAll and on Gettr @KarenWalker