For more than four weeks, millions of masks now considered inadequate for medical protection entered the U.S. and are now in use. AP
“It’s just unprecedented,” said Steve Francis, HSI’s assistant director for global trade investigations. “These are really bad times for people who are out there trying to do the right thing and be helpful, and they end up being exploited.”
Ear loop masks are less expensive to manufacture because the straps are attached with glue to the face covering, while headbands on genuine N95s, also called respirators, must be stitched, stapled or soldered to establish a tighter seal over the nose and mouth. On their own website, Shanghai Dasheng warns: “WE DON’T HAVE ANY DISTRIBUTORS, DEALERS OR BRANCH FACTORIES. BEWARE OF COUNTERFEIT!”
Shanghai Dasheng is one of the largest manufacturers of authentic N95s in the world and one of only a handful in China certified to make NIOSH approved, U.S. medical-grade N95s. “It’s a little scary that it had gone through what we understood was an aggressive customs investigation for export, and an aggressive customs import by the U.S. and still got through,” Tighe said. “It’s been a real lesson.”Even for those looking out for fakes, it has been difficult to keep up with changing federal guidelines for medical-grade masks.
“It’s terrible, just terrible,” said David Schildmeier, spokesman for the Massachusetts Nursing Association.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Counterfeit masks reaching frontline health workers in USThe masks are fakes. They don’t provide adequate protection. And they’re being handed to front-line caregivers. An AP investigation tracks counterfeit medical masks from China to U.S. hospitals.
Read more »
Counterfeit masks reaching frontline health workers in USWASHINGTON (AP) — On a day when COVID-19 cases soared, healthcare supplies were scarce and an anguished doctor warned he was being sent to war without bullets, a cargo plane landed at the Los...
Read more »
Jerry Stiller made us love him by screaming at us'Yelling at people doesn't usually elicit their love. Unless the person doing the screaming is Jerry Stiller,' DeanObeidallah writes for CNNOpinion
Read more »
Exclusive: U.S. airlines tell crews not to force passengers to wear masksThe top three U.S. airlines have told their flight attendants not to force passengers to comply with a new policy requiring face coverings, just encourage them to do so, according to employee policies reviewed by Reuters.
Read more »
Why the US isn't prepared to meet overwhelming demand for a coronavirus vaccineEven as coronavirus deaths mount and infections make inroads into the White House, President Trump is maintaining his upbeat message about reopening the country and restarting the economy
Read more »