Covid-19: Japan government faces complaints after giving out dirty masks

The health ministry said over the weekend that it has received at least 1,900 cases of the problems reported by 80 municipalities that the masks came with stains, dust and other contamination.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s unpopular handouts of old-fashioned cloth masks as part of his coronavirus measures faced complaints, as thousands of those sent to pregnant women were dirty..

People wearing face masks to protect against the spread of the new coronavirus pass the gates at Yokohama station, near Tokyo, Wednesday, April 15, 2020. (AP)

The health ministry said over the weekend that it has received at least 1,900 cases of the problems reported by 80 municipalities that the masks came with stains, dust and other contamination. The dirty masks were among a half million masks that the government started sending to pregnant women in Japan as a priority last week. Abe announced a plan on April 1 to mail two cloth masks each to all 50 million households in Japan amid dire shortage of masks.

The faulty masks were the latest embarrassment for Abe’s government already criticised for its coronavirus measures inadequate, off-target, too little and too late.

The cloth masks also seem to have a size problem. When the masks also arrived at elderly care centres, television talk shows showed some caregivers struggling to fit the mask, saying the it was too small to cover both nose and mouth at the same time.

The ministry said it has urged mask makers to resolve the contamination problem, while asking municipal officials to visually inspect the masks before mailing them.