China News Service, December 23. According to Kyodo News and other reports, Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare disclosed on the 22nd the warehouse where the cloth "Abe masks" that the government spent heavily on purchases in response to the new crown epidemic last year but could not be distributed were stored.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on the 21st that these masks will be discarded roughly in 2021.

Data map: Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is wearing an "Abe mask".

　　Regarding the "Abe masks" issued as a response to the new crown during the former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's administration, there is still a large inventory problem.

As of the end of October this year, the inventory was about 81.3 million.

There are about 100,000 cardboard boxes for masks in the warehouse, with a stack height of about 5 meters.

　　The warehouse is located in the suburbs of Tokyo, covering an area of ​​approximately 5,200 square meters.

In order to prevent collapse, an iron frame with a height of about 1.7 meters is used and stacked into a 3-layer storage carton.

　　Labels such as "all household use" and "care use" are affixed to the carton. There are 100 packs, 1,000 packs, etc., of different sizes.

The masks are purchased from 17 companies, so the appearance design is also different.

The masks in the carton are all individually packaged.

　　The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare purchased approximately 287 million cloth masks for nursing facilities and all households last year.

The total amount of government payments exceeded 44.2 billion yen (approximately 2.47 billion yuan).

Most of the masks for facilities have not been distributed, and the storage fee from August last year to March this year was as high as 600 million yen.

Since April, management has been handed over to Nippon Express.

　　Kishida Fumio also stated on the 21st that during the product inspection process, 15% of the "Abe masks" were found to be defective.

In addition, the cost of checking the quality of masks may exceed 2 billion yen (approximately 100 million yuan).

　　Kishida said that the mask will be distributed to those who want it, and then the inventory will be disposed of.

The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare is preparing for the acceptance of individual applications. The person in charge said: “After effective use, the disposal will be promoted based on laws and regulations. Disposal methods will also be discussed.”