Coronavirus: Around 50,000 China-Made PPE Kits Fail Safety Test At DRDO Lab

Personal protection equipment (PPE) have become extremely important for healthcare workers as these items help to stop the spread of coronavirus and can help save lives. Hence, governments around the world are ensuring the supply of these “precious resources” through enhanced domestic productions and imports.

As per one Economic Times report, many PPE kits made in China, the world’s main supplier, that were donated to the Indian government have failed the safety test and are rendered unusable.

In the tests that were conducted at the DRDO laboratory in Gwalior, it was reported that out of the 1,70,000 PPE kits that arrived in India on 5 April, around 50,000 failed the safety checks.

It should be noted that government of India is procuring CE/FDA certified PPE kits only.

The kits that are not CE/FDA certified, have to pass safety check in India. Consignments that failed the quality tests are those received as donations from big private companies in India, the report quotes a person related with the development as saying.

China is already facing criticism from European countries over the quality of PPE kits and other equipment made in the country.

The person further states,“Domestic PPE production has increased to 30,000 kits a day, hitting the target a week earlier than scheduled, and is expected to touch 50,000 by the end of the month. Cumulatively, we have produced over 150,000 suits and should be able to manufacture an additional 100,000 by the weekend.”

The total number of people confirmed positive for the coronavirus in India has increased to 12,380 while 414 deaths were reported across the country, as per the latest data updated at 8 am today (16 April) by the Health Ministry.