UK: Millions of Pieces of Equipment Shipped From China Despite Reports of Faulty Items

BEIJING, CHINA - MARCH 16: Two chinese police wears a protective mask as they stands in fr
Lintao Zhang/Getty Images

Millions of pieces of medical equipment are being shipped into the United Kingdom from China, despite reports from other European countries that the communist dictatorship has been sending defective equipment.

On Friday, Virgin Atlantic delivered 350,000 medical items from China to be sent to frontline medical staff in Britain. The shipment from Shanghai included respirators, ventilator components, masks, and other personal protective equipment (PPE).

Airbus has also donated 400,000 medical masks to the NHS, which were also shipped from China, according to Sky News.

The founder of JD.com, the largest retailer in China, has also committed to donating millions of medical items to the NHS, amidst claims that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is attempting to use charitable donations as a means of gaining power and influence during the pandemic which it caused.

Ventilators and PPE items have been in short supply in Britain since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, with some 10,000 National Health Service (NHS) workers writing to Prime Minister Boris Johnson to decry the lack of protective equipment.

“Millions of first responders, nurses, doctors and other NHS staff are working tirelessly day and night on the frontlines of this crisis,” observed the president and chief executive of Virgin Unite, Jean Oelwang.

“They are the true heroes in this crisis – and so we are humbled to have the opportunity to get this much needed equipment to them,” he added.

The moves by the British government to make up for shortages with supplies shipped from China comes as countries across Europe have been forced to discard defective equipment sourced from the communist-led country.

The government of the Netherlands was forced to recall 600,000 medical masks that were discovered to have defective filters, rendering them useless.

“When they were delivered to our hospital, I immediately rejected those masks,” a Dutch hospital worker said.

Spanish authorities also ditched thousands of coronavirus test kits from China after it was revealed that they only had a 30 per cent accuracy rate in detecting COVID-19 in patients, far lower than the 80 per cent accuracy rate that is expected.

So far Spain has paid the Chinese €432 million ($471.4 million/£386.3 million) for shipments of medical supplies.

The Czech Republic has reported that some 80 per cent of the 300,000 test kits imported from China are defective as well, showing both false-positive and false-negative results in patients.

China has denied the existence of such complaints and has even boasted of a “roaring” economy due to the global demand for medical equipment.

Follow Kurt on Twitter at @KurtZindulka

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.