While it is particularly difficult for many countries to obtain protection against the coronavirus, it is a real disillusionment that Canada has just experienced. The country's government said on Friday that about a million KN95 masks imported from China did not meet its standards and could not be distributed to health workers.
National production up
However, these masks will be "assessed to determine their potential use in other environments" than that of health, said a spokesman for the Ministry of Health. NK95 masks are Chinese models similar to N95, themselves similar in terms of protection to the FFP2 used in Europe.
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," said Minister of Public Services and Supply, Anita Anand.
The automaker General Motors (GM), which is forced to produce artificial respirators in the United States by the President, has for example announced a partial conversion of its plant in Oshawa, Ontario for the production of masks. He plans to make "about a million a month."
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