Counterfeit masks reaching frontline health workers in US
By JULIET LINDERMAN and MARTHA MENDOZA Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Counterfeit face masks that provide inadequate COVID-19 protection have been distributed to frontline health care workers across the country. An Associated Press investigation has tracked the masks to a U.S.-certified factory in China where legitimate medical masks are made. Adding to the confusion, millions of masks now considered inadequate for medical protection entered the U.S. and are now in use because of the federal government’s relaxed standards. Meanwhile state and local governments, hospitals, private caregivers and well wishers have spent hundreds of millions of dollars on the flawed masks. Before the pandemic, N95 masks sold for about 60 cents each. Today they’re priced as high as $6 apiece.