Masks purchased by the government in China are not valid for hospitals

Finland ordered 2 million surgical protective masks from China by aircraft but when the aircraft was received in Helsinki, it was found that they did not meet the quality requirements and could not be used in hospitals.

Masks are not completely useless. They could be used for home care and nursing homes. There is also a shortage of protective equipment in care for the elderly and home care, but hospitals are a critical part of resolving the coronavirus (koronavirus, in Finnish) crisis, and now they have to wait for the next flight to China. 

Kirsi Varhila, Chief of Staff of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, described the first batch from China as “disappointing” in the press conference.

Tomi Lounema CEO of the Security of Supply Center said, “The protection market is very chaotic. There are a wide variety of traders in the market. The goods supplied are not necessarily well-known marks and do not even know where they were made. Prices are rising all the time, transactions have to be done quickly and you have to pay in advance. The situation is very different from normal. The commercial risk is very high.”

According to Lounema, the cargo documents may be in order, but in the end, the product is not what it should be.

On Monday night Helsinki Mayor Jan Vapaavuori sent a Twitter message criticizing the government.

Vapaavuori said, “I find it unfortunate that the government does not want to have a dialogue with the leadership of big cities. However, in a situation where the crisis is largely managed at the basic level, ie in municipalities and hospital districts.”