FFP2 masks, coming from the "regional stock" and delivered on Tuesday by the Regional Health Agency (ARS) of La Réunion to pharmacists, turned out to be moldy, forcing the ARS to recommend their destruction on Wednesday, before a new delivery in the two days.
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36,000 FFP2 masks, including a large number of "defective"
"Pending national distribution and given the urgency of providing masks to protect health professionals" from the coronavirus, the prefect and the director general of the ARS, in agreement with the unions of doctors, pharmacists and nurses , had "decided to distribute masks from the historic and strategic regional stock, as has been done for weeks, at the national level," said ARS on Wednesday in a statement. In total, more than 36,000 FFP2 masks were delivered on Tuesday, representing according to the ARS "30% of the quantities to be distributed to healthcare professionals".
But as of Wednesday evening, "some pharmacists alerted the ARS to the large number of defective FFP2 masks," said the ARS. Some showed traces of dirt and mold in particular. "The masks may have been checked, but in the field there are a lot of rotten masks," said Sébastien Lallemand, president of the FNI (National Federation of Nurses) Reunion.
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A stock "built up for several years"
The stock, "built up for several years and kept at the University Hospital of La Réunion, was subject about a week ago to a first visual inspection on samples by the ARS teams", adds the regional agency of health. "All the stakeholders were convinced, given the level of information available to them, that the prior checks, before delivery on this category of masks, were adequate," said ARS. "This was not the case, due to a lack of understanding and manifestly insufficient coordination between the ARS and the pharmacy of the CHU".
On Wednesday, the ARS asked pharmacists to stop any further distribution of these FFP2 masks, and health professionals who received them to "proceed to their destruction without delay". The agency said that "50% of them will be replaced within the next two days". In addition, "each missing unit of FFP2 will be compensated, at the time of the new distribution, by a surgical mask unit, so that each professional receives the full amount of his allowance for two weeks of use", a clarified the ARS.
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