Dutch officials recalled tens of thousands of masks imported from China because they did not meet quality standards.

The Netherlands Ministry of Health yesterday said it received a batch of masks from a Chinese manufacturer on March 21, then distributed a portion to health professionals. However, the results of the first inspection showed that the shipment was not of sufficient quality.

"The rest of the shipment was immediately postponed. The second inspection later also showed that the mask did not meet the quality standards," the Dutch Ministry of Health notice said.

Therefore, the Netherlands decided not to use any masks in the shipment. The Dutch Ministry of Health's notice adds that future shipments will be thoroughly inspected.

Dutch television NOS reported a shipment of 1.3 million FFP2 masks and 600,000 were taken to hospitals. The problem with this number of masks is that they don't cover the face correctly, or there are filter errors, NOS said.

In the absence of medical supplies as the number of Covid-19 patients increased rapidly, many countries sought Chinese assistance. French Health Minister Olivier Veran said yesterday he had ordered more than a billion masks, mostly from China, to help France fight the pandemic.

Covid-19 has appeared in nearly 200 countries and territories around the world, with more than 664,000 cases, more than 30,000 deaths and more than 142,000 recovering cases. Europe and the US are at the heart of the epidemic.