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Buyers Beware of KN95 Mask Quality
RECALL NOTICE: State of Missouri recalls 48,000 KN95 masks
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The state of Missouri's public safety director announced the recall of KN95 masks.
Missouri Director of Public Safety Sandy Kartsen says first responders received the masks around the state. The shipments arrived on both April 2 and April 9. Kartsen says testing of the masks showed they did not meet standards.
The state asks those agencies with the masks not to use them. SEMA will collect them.
Medical workers share concerns about masks delivered by Patriots plane
It was a rare moment of celebration in a season of misery: The New England Patriots team plane touching down at Logan Airport April 2 with a massive cargo of scarce respirator masks for front-line health care workers who were trying to save lives.
But like so much else in this global pandemic, the ensuing reality has proven to be more complex.
As well-intended and carefully executed as the covert mission to China had been, at least some and possibly many of the roughly one-million protective masks on the team plane were not the time-tested, industry-standard N95 masks that medical workers wear when treating coronavirus patients. Rather, they were a Chinese version known as a KN95 mask that some hospitals in Boston and beyond have so far declined to use and remain reluctant about today.
Message from GREENandSAVE:
We hope that you, your families, and your colleagues are staying safe and healthy during this unprecedented pandemic. The private sector is stepping up to help. We see the merit and the need for groups like the Purge Virus initiative, which is taking due diligence seriously when it comes to quality control of KN95 Mask production. Certified masks can help reduce the spread and the risk of a COVID-19 resurgence. Mayors and Governors as well as CEOs need to get ahead of the timeline and plan for the spring and summer as soon as possible. The cost of bringing the recent FDA approved KN95 masks from China by air freight is far higher than by cargo ship. 40 foot shipping containers can each hold about 460,000 KN95 masks or about 1.8 million surgical masks, which are thinner and typically 3 ply vs 6 ply. Regardless of the mask type, the challenge is quality and time, since the overseas journey is about four weeks. We were late in America to start social distancing, and we should avoid being late to have masks at hand to reopen America with a phased and safe approach.
