More than 300 million pieces of personal protective equipment stored by the government during the pandemic have been denied use. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Public Health confirmed this after receiving a report from the People’s Daily.

According to the spokesperson, this involved different types of protective equipment, which failed the inspection due to various reasons. For example, the government purchased masks with Chinese quality marks, which have been considered equivalent to FFP2 masks since the beginning of the crisis. But the European exception applicable to this has expired. 

For other protective equipment, such as glasses, a lack of fit may be the reason for rejection.

The ministry is still investigating whether the rejected equipment can be used elsewhere. The spokesperson gave an example that this includes donations to poorer countries. According to Volkskrant, the value of the rejected items was at least 300 million euros. 

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