Story By: Alex Cope, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News

A batch of face masks from China has failed laboratory tests in Finland and cannot be used in hospitals despite there being a shortage of protective equipment in the country.

The consignment of personal protection equipment and face masks had arrived in Finland on Tuesday after being sent from China and the equipment was then tested at laboratories in the Technical Research of Finland in the city of Tampere.

The director of Finland’s National Emergency Supply Agency Tomi Lounema announced the following day at a press conference that the masks were not up to the country’s standards and would not be used in hospitals. He did not specify what the failure involved.

Lounema said the masks could be used by staff in care homes to prevent them from passing on COVID-19.

A large shipment of medical materials had arrived at Helsinki’s Vantaa Airport on Tuesday from Guangzhou in China’s Guangdong Province which included 2 million masks but it is unclear if this shipment contained the masks which failed the tests.

The incident comes after Finland’s hospitals reportedly received face masks which had use-by dates in 2012, with the country suffering a shortage of protective equipment.

According to the latest figures from the Johns Hopkins University, Finland has registered 2,605 cases of COVID-19, with 42 deaths, and 300 recovered.

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