Canadian health officials said that around 1 million KN95 respirators obtained from China failed to meet federal quality standards for use against COVID-19 and so were not distributed to staff on the frontlines of the outbreak.
Eric Morrissette, a spokesperson for the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), said the KN95 masks acquired from China were deemed “unfit” for use and as a result, the federal government was unable to distribute the non-compliant masks to provinces and territories in Canada that are facing shortages amid the pandemic.
