1 00:00:05,559 --> 00:00:10,039 Speaker 1: Welcome to Prognosis. I'm Francesca Dy. Laura Carlson is out. 2 00:00:11,400 --> 00:00:15,520 Speaker 1: It's day one h since coronavirus was declared a global pandemic. 3 00:00:16,480 --> 00:00:21,160 Speaker 1: Our main story, masks and other personal protective equipment are 4 00:00:21,200 --> 00:00:25,160 Speaker 1: the only things standing between frontline healthcare workers and infection. 5 00:00:26,440 --> 00:00:29,760 Speaker 1: But fake or badly made masks are circulating through the 6 00:00:29,800 --> 00:00:34,240 Speaker 1: market and they can be very hard to spot. But first, 7 00:00:34,280 --> 00:00:46,000 Speaker 1: here's what happened in virus news today. President Donald Trump 8 00:00:46,040 --> 00:00:50,360 Speaker 1: will hold a massive indoor campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, tomorrow. 9 00:00:50,960 --> 00:00:54,360 Speaker 1: Cases in Oklahoma have skyrocketed since the beginning of June. 10 00:00:54,920 --> 00:00:58,040 Speaker 1: The White House has dismissed suggestions that the rally will 11 00:00:58,120 --> 00:01:02,920 Speaker 1: lead to a dangerous rise in actions, but epidemiologists and 12 00:01:02,960 --> 00:01:06,360 Speaker 1: other experts agree the rally is likely to cause a 13 00:01:06,440 --> 00:01:10,800 Speaker 1: so called superspreadery event. The b Ok Center where the 14 00:01:10,880 --> 00:01:14,959 Speaker 1: rally will take place, seats nineteen thousand people and President 15 00:01:14,959 --> 00:01:18,479 Speaker 1: Trump intends to pack it. Attendees will need to sign 16 00:01:18,520 --> 00:01:22,880 Speaker 1: waivers absolving the Trump campaign of liability, and temperature checks 17 00:01:22,880 --> 00:01:25,920 Speaker 1: will be done at the door. Masks will be provided, 18 00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:30,920 Speaker 1: but not required. Experts say these measures can ensure no 19 00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:34,040 Speaker 1: infected people will get into the venue, and that temperature 20 00:01:34,120 --> 00:01:38,320 Speaker 1: checks are virtually meaningless. The differences between the Trump rally 21 00:01:38,440 --> 00:01:41,279 Speaker 1: and the ongoing Black Lives Matter protests from a public 22 00:01:41,319 --> 00:01:45,840 Speaker 1: health perspective is the entirely enclosed nature of the arena 23 00:01:46,000 --> 00:01:48,920 Speaker 1: and the likelihood that an older, more vulnerable group will 24 00:01:48,960 --> 00:01:52,200 Speaker 1: be at the b Okay Center. The protests have not 25 00:01:52,280 --> 00:01:56,440 Speaker 1: yet been linked to a spike in cases. The United 26 00:01:56,520 --> 00:01:59,480 Speaker 1: Kingdom lowered its COVID nineteen alert level by one rank 27 00:01:59,600 --> 00:02:03,120 Speaker 1: to love three. That reflects the fact that the coronavirus 28 00:02:03,240 --> 00:02:06,880 Speaker 1: is no longer spreading exponentially in the community after almost 29 00:02:06,960 --> 00:02:10,720 Speaker 1: three months of lockdown. The new level allows for more 30 00:02:10,800 --> 00:02:15,000 Speaker 1: relaxation of social distancing measures. Some non essential shops had 31 00:02:15,040 --> 00:02:21,919 Speaker 1: already reopened this week, and finally there's now a sign 32 00:02:22,040 --> 00:02:26,280 Speaker 1: that the coronavirus reached Italy, the first European epicenter of 33 00:02:26,280 --> 00:02:32,079 Speaker 1: the crisis, two months before scientists first believed sewage samples 34 00:02:32,120 --> 00:02:35,240 Speaker 1: taken from the cities of Milan and Turin in December 35 00:02:36,120 --> 00:02:39,600 Speaker 1: showed traces of stars cove two, according to a new study. 36 00:02:39,840 --> 00:02:42,120 Speaker 1: The report is part of a regular round of testing 37 00:02:42,120 --> 00:02:45,799 Speaker 1: on environmental virology carried out by government agency since two 38 00:02:45,800 --> 00:02:58,320 Speaker 1: thousand seven, and now for today's main story. If there's 39 00:02:58,360 --> 00:03:01,040 Speaker 1: one simple technology that has come to the forefront during 40 00:03:01,040 --> 00:03:06,040 Speaker 1: the coronavirus pandemic, it's the face mask. Special masks called 41 00:03:06,120 --> 00:03:09,400 Speaker 1: respirators are designed to prevent doctors and nurses from catching 42 00:03:09,400 --> 00:03:13,040 Speaker 1: the virus when they treat infected people. But not all 43 00:03:13,080 --> 00:03:17,480 Speaker 1: respirators do what they're labeled to. Fakes and shoddy products abound, 44 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:20,320 Speaker 1: and you can't always tell how many particles of mask 45 00:03:20,480 --> 00:03:24,960 Speaker 1: can filter just by looking at Bloomberg reporter Naomi Kraski 46 00:03:25,200 --> 00:03:28,200 Speaker 1: reported on how you catch a fake mask and the 47 00:03:28,360 --> 00:03:40,400 Speaker 1: lengths one German company is going to to fight the problem. 48 00:03:40,440 --> 00:03:43,640 Speaker 1: This is the sound of a lab at testing company 49 00:03:43,760 --> 00:03:47,360 Speaker 1: to if Nord from a video where workers are inspecting 50 00:03:47,440 --> 00:03:52,800 Speaker 1: the filters on face masks. In Germany, when people talk 51 00:03:52,840 --> 00:03:56,480 Speaker 1: about testing and the tooth, it's usually in the context 52 00:03:56,560 --> 00:04:00,240 Speaker 1: of cars. If you want to drive and twenty miles 53 00:04:00,240 --> 00:04:02,920 Speaker 1: an hour on the Autobahn or even twenty miles an 54 00:04:02,920 --> 00:04:06,000 Speaker 1: hour down your own street, you have to get everything 55 00:04:06,080 --> 00:04:09,160 Speaker 1: from breaks and lights to bright yellow hazard gear and 56 00:04:09,200 --> 00:04:12,760 Speaker 1: body rust checked out at your local toof testing center 57 00:04:12,880 --> 00:04:18,800 Speaker 1: every two years. But Germany's Industrial Quality Control companies inspect 58 00:04:18,839 --> 00:04:23,080 Speaker 1: a lot more than just vehicles. When the government started 59 00:04:23,080 --> 00:04:26,200 Speaker 1: shipping in face masks by the hundreds of millions from 60 00:04:26,320 --> 00:04:31,360 Speaker 1: China as coronavirus infections spiked around the country, it turned 61 00:04:31,440 --> 00:04:34,400 Speaker 1: to tuf Nord to help make sure the masks are 62 00:04:34,400 --> 00:04:38,000 Speaker 1: fit to use. It's far more than a rubber stamp. 63 00:04:38,720 --> 00:04:41,800 Speaker 1: Almost one quarter of the masks failed the test, and 64 00:04:41,920 --> 00:04:45,560 Speaker 1: executive at the company told me we are currently walking 65 00:04:46,279 --> 00:04:51,080 Speaker 1: in three shifts UM twenty four hours per day, seven 66 00:04:51,120 --> 00:04:54,640 Speaker 1: days a week, in order to cope with a tremendous 67 00:04:54,760 --> 00:04:59,039 Speaker 1: number of mass tests. That's Dirk stend Camp, CEO of 68 00:04:59,120 --> 00:05:03,599 Speaker 1: tiff Nord. Though they're known for cars testing workplace safety, 69 00:05:03,680 --> 00:05:07,039 Speaker 1: here is actually how they got their start. UM. The 70 00:05:07,440 --> 00:05:14,160 Speaker 1: foundation year was actually eighteen hundred sixty nine UM as 71 00:05:14,160 --> 00:05:19,400 Speaker 1: a North German association for the monitoring of steam boilers 72 00:05:19,440 --> 00:05:23,680 Speaker 1: actually UM. At that time we were based in Hamburg 73 00:05:24,560 --> 00:05:31,479 Speaker 1: UM and we were actually inaugurated to protect human beings 74 00:05:32,680 --> 00:05:36,440 Speaker 1: against the hazards of new technologies. There used to be 75 00:05:36,520 --> 00:05:41,760 Speaker 1: close to one hundred independent testing companies in Germany. Mergers 76 00:05:41,760 --> 00:05:44,760 Speaker 1: and acquisitions brought that number down to fewer than ten, 77 00:05:45,320 --> 00:05:48,600 Speaker 1: and each of them does business everywhere, not just in Germany. 78 00:05:49,400 --> 00:05:54,000 Speaker 1: Tif nord stend Camps company tests everything from data security 79 00:05:54,080 --> 00:05:58,600 Speaker 1: for smartphone apps to nuclear power plant safety. Before the 80 00:05:58,600 --> 00:06:02,839 Speaker 1: coronavirus was one of only a few institutions accredited to 81 00:06:02,880 --> 00:06:06,720 Speaker 1: test face masks at all. A few doctors needed the 82 00:06:06,760 --> 00:06:11,279 Speaker 1: most protective type of masks, respirators designed to filter out 83 00:06:12,080 --> 00:06:17,120 Speaker 1: airborne particles. With the virus that changed, doctors need to 84 00:06:17,160 --> 00:06:22,360 Speaker 1: be protected from tiny particles called aerosols. The Corona virus 85 00:06:22,520 --> 00:06:28,400 Speaker 1: is able to be transported through such small aerosol particles 86 00:06:28,600 --> 00:06:30,839 Speaker 1: of a size you are not able to see with 87 00:06:31,520 --> 00:06:35,799 Speaker 1: the human eye, even under a microscope, and these FFP 88 00:06:36,080 --> 00:06:45,159 Speaker 1: masks are now designed to actually filter these aerosols. The 89 00:06:45,240 --> 00:06:48,159 Speaker 1: process of screening the masks to make sure they can 90 00:06:48,200 --> 00:06:51,799 Speaker 1: do this job starts before a shipment ever leaves China. 91 00:06:52,600 --> 00:06:56,400 Speaker 1: The masks have to pass a literal smell test. TIFF's 92 00:06:56,480 --> 00:06:59,800 Speaker 1: local inspectors check for a chemical odor and test the 93 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:04,359 Speaker 1: ability of the straps. They check the paperwork. A second 94 00:07:04,400 --> 00:07:07,760 Speaker 1: team is waiting when the plane touches down in Germany. 95 00:07:07,920 --> 00:07:13,120 Speaker 1: They do another visual inspection and check the freight papers, 96 00:07:13,160 --> 00:07:19,920 Speaker 1: and then our inspectors mark shipments either green that means 97 00:07:19,920 --> 00:07:24,040 Speaker 1: has past test or rett that means has not passed, 98 00:07:24,080 --> 00:07:29,280 Speaker 1: and only the green ones are then finally checked in 99 00:07:29,360 --> 00:07:33,160 Speaker 1: our laboratories. That means we take samples out of the 100 00:07:33,280 --> 00:07:41,600 Speaker 1: green marked or labeled masks bitches, and these southern specifically tested. 101 00:07:42,400 --> 00:07:46,120 Speaker 1: That's where things get really detailed. Let's go to Essen, 102 00:07:46,520 --> 00:07:49,040 Speaker 1: a city in the middle of Germany's rust belt, the 103 00:07:49,120 --> 00:07:53,080 Speaker 1: industrial rural area. Chief's testing labs there used to work 104 00:07:53,080 --> 00:07:56,960 Speaker 1: on face masks for coal miners. When the mining business declined, 105 00:07:57,280 --> 00:08:01,000 Speaker 1: they tested particle filters and everything from vacuum cleaners to 106 00:08:01,040 --> 00:08:05,040 Speaker 1: air conditioning. Their experts on dust. They even produce and 107 00:08:05,120 --> 00:08:08,559 Speaker 1: sell their own test dust. But for the past couple 108 00:08:08,600 --> 00:08:13,040 Speaker 1: of months their biggest business has been the virus. Here's 109 00:08:13,080 --> 00:08:18,760 Speaker 1: Dirk Wrention, who runs the lab year. The masks that 110 00:08:18,800 --> 00:08:21,920 Speaker 1: are made are made in China, and in China there 111 00:08:21,960 --> 00:08:25,600 Speaker 1: are some very good producers that ensure very reliable and 112 00:08:25,720 --> 00:08:29,800 Speaker 1: good mass deliveries, but precisely in the context of the 113 00:08:29,840 --> 00:08:33,800 Speaker 1: coronavirus pandemic, they are also various producers that are naturally 114 00:08:34,120 --> 00:08:37,160 Speaker 1: trying to do a good business and unfortunately are also 115 00:08:37,200 --> 00:08:41,240 Speaker 1: to some extent really dishonest. That means that At first 116 00:08:41,600 --> 00:08:45,760 Speaker 1: they ship good masks that also show good results and tests, 117 00:08:45,920 --> 00:08:49,720 Speaker 1: and then in following shipments deliver masks that at first 118 00:08:49,760 --> 00:08:52,800 Speaker 1: glands seem to be the same quality, but then show 119 00:08:52,880 --> 00:09:02,439 Speaker 1: themselves and flitter tests to be significantly worse. Wrenchens teams 120 00:09:02,640 --> 00:09:05,719 Speaker 1: pull samples from each batch of masks and test them 121 00:09:05,720 --> 00:09:08,880 Speaker 1: in a process that takes two or three days. This 122 00:09:08,960 --> 00:09:11,760 Speaker 1: is a special quick test, by the way, the full 123 00:09:11,800 --> 00:09:15,720 Speaker 1: European testing protocol for face masks takes a couple of weeks. 124 00:09:17,240 --> 00:09:19,720 Speaker 1: The first step is simply to put the mask on. 125 00:09:21,080 --> 00:09:24,680 Speaker 1: It's called a dawning test, and a three person panel 126 00:09:24,720 --> 00:09:27,640 Speaker 1: of testers with different head sizes, two men and a 127 00:09:27,679 --> 00:09:31,320 Speaker 1: woman tries each sample mask. They want to make sure 128 00:09:31,360 --> 00:09:35,080 Speaker 1: it's air tight but reasonably comfortable. Then it's on to 129 00:09:35,120 --> 00:09:38,760 Speaker 1: the less subjective measures. They strap the mask onto a 130 00:09:38,840 --> 00:09:41,600 Speaker 1: special machine that looks like a model of a human 131 00:09:41,679 --> 00:09:44,880 Speaker 1: head in order to measure how much air flow can 132 00:09:44,960 --> 00:09:48,440 Speaker 1: pass through the filter each minute. The idea is to 133 00:09:48,520 --> 00:09:51,240 Speaker 1: ensure that if you're wearing the mask for hours, you 134 00:09:51,280 --> 00:09:55,400 Speaker 1: won't feel like you're suffocating. Finally, comes the filter test. 135 00:09:56,080 --> 00:09:59,360 Speaker 1: They use a special chamber filled with a high concentration 136 00:09:59,440 --> 00:10:02,760 Speaker 1: of a test gas and the mask gets attached to 137 00:10:02,840 --> 00:10:08,360 Speaker 1: the end of a hose. Air from one side of 138 00:10:08,400 --> 00:10:11,679 Speaker 1: the masque from the outside of the mask is suctioned 139 00:10:11,760 --> 00:10:15,560 Speaker 1: through and measured to see how many particles arrive on 140 00:10:15,600 --> 00:10:25,679 Speaker 1: the other side. In order to meet the European f 141 00:10:26,040 --> 00:10:32,000 Speaker 1: FP two standard masks are supposed to filter out of aerosols. 142 00:10:32,640 --> 00:10:35,400 Speaker 1: That's about the same level of protection as a US 143 00:10:35,480 --> 00:10:40,840 Speaker 1: AND mask or a Chinese kN mask. But this is 144 00:10:40,840 --> 00:10:50,679 Speaker 1: where appearances can be deceiving. You can identis inus fildo 145 00:10:50,720 --> 00:10:54,600 Speaker 1: matrial alarm. You can have a really identical looking filter 146 00:10:54,720 --> 00:10:59,600 Speaker 1: material that lets through forty of the aerosols without being 147 00:10:59,640 --> 00:11:02,719 Speaker 1: able to tell the difference from another better mask by 148 00:11:02,760 --> 00:11:09,280 Speaker 1: touch or feel. The German Ministry of Health said that 149 00:11:09,400 --> 00:11:13,360 Speaker 1: about of the masks it's had delivered so far have 150 00:11:13,520 --> 00:11:17,440 Speaker 1: failed these tests. Looking across the board at all the 151 00:11:17,520 --> 00:11:21,160 Speaker 1: masks too has tested Wrench and put the figure slightly higher. 152 00:11:21,800 --> 00:11:24,280 Speaker 1: Just under a quarter of all masks that reached his 153 00:11:24,400 --> 00:11:28,120 Speaker 1: labs weren't up to grade. The quality was even worse 154 00:11:28,200 --> 00:11:32,600 Speaker 1: for simple medical masks, which filter fewer particles than it 155 00:11:32,679 --> 00:11:37,760 Speaker 1: was for the more high tech respirators. He said, that's 156 00:11:37,760 --> 00:11:42,000 Speaker 1: why tests like this absolutely necessary because simply due to 157 00:11:42,040 --> 00:11:45,280 Speaker 1: the enormous quantities of masks that are currently being shipped 158 00:11:45,280 --> 00:11:48,920 Speaker 1: to Germany, the risk is very very high that otherwise 159 00:11:49,040 --> 00:11:56,400 Speaker 1: low quality products would be delivered. Germany is by far 160 00:11:56,559 --> 00:11:59,920 Speaker 1: not the only country to face this problem. In the US, 161 00:12:00,080 --> 00:12:03,520 Speaker 1: US the Food and Drug Administration banded more than sixty 162 00:12:03,960 --> 00:12:08,239 Speaker 1: mask producers after they failed similar tests at the CDC's 163 00:12:08,360 --> 00:12:14,880 Speaker 1: National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory. So far, too teams have 164 00:12:15,040 --> 00:12:19,360 Speaker 1: helped screen more than eight hundred million masks. They're nowhere 165 00:12:19,360 --> 00:12:23,560 Speaker 1: near finished. As of the beginning of June, the German 166 00:12:23,600 --> 00:12:27,079 Speaker 1: government was still waiting on delivery of another one point 167 00:12:27,160 --> 00:12:45,400 Speaker 1: five billion masks through this fall. That was Naomi Krasgy 168 00:12:45,520 --> 00:12:49,160 Speaker 1: in Berlin. And that's our show today. For coverage of 169 00:12:49,200 --> 00:12:52,800 Speaker 1: the outbreak from one bureaus around the world, visit Bloomberg 170 00:12:52,840 --> 00:12:56,080 Speaker 1: dot com slash Coronavirus and if you like the show, 171 00:12:56,160 --> 00:12:58,319 Speaker 1: please leave us a review and a rating on Apple 172 00:12:58,360 --> 00:13:01,720 Speaker 1: Podcasts or Spotify. It's the best way to help more 173 00:13:01,800 --> 00:13:06,559 Speaker 1: listeners find our global reporting. The Prognosis Daily edition is 174 00:13:06,600 --> 00:13:11,560 Speaker 1: produced by topor Foreheas, Jordan Gospore, Magnus Hendrickson, and Laura Carlson. 175 00:13:11,960 --> 00:13:16,160 Speaker 1: Today's main story was reported by Naomi Creski. Original music 176 00:13:16,200 --> 00:13:19,480 Speaker 1: by Leo sidran Our. Editors are Rick Shine and Me 177 00:13:19,760 --> 00:13:24,040 Speaker 1: Francesca Levy. Bloomberg's head of podcasts is also Me.