Not good enough: FDA withdraws approval for some China-made masks

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Thursday announced that it has cancelled the approval for some manufacturers in China to sell N95 respirators in the US. The administration says the masks failed to offer adequate protection against the new coronavirus.

A number of these respirators failed to demonstrate a minimum particulate filtration efficiency of 95 percent upon testing, the agency said.

Bloomberg News is reporting that the FDA revoked clearance for about 60 Chinese face masks, but left authorisation for 14 firms in place because they demonstrated to the FDA that their products work.

The FDA says it is now increasing its surveillance of masks imported from China, and will randomly test some shipments.