LA Times: Faulty masks. Flawed tests. China’s quality control problem in leading global COVID-19 fight
The COVID-19 pandemic has ignited a worldwide scramble for medical gear: masks, gowns, ventilators, testing kits, much of it made in China, which is attempting to recast its image as the source of the virus to the leader in the fight against it.
But that narrative is threatened by a major problem: quality control.
A growing list of foreign complaints about faulty medical gear and testing kits imported from China has upset Beijing’s designs. Within the last few weeks, scientists and health authorities in Spain, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Turkey and Britain have complained of faulty antigen or antibody coronavirus tests purchased from Chinese companies — in some cases, costing these governments millions of dollars.