WEBVTT - How to Spot a Fake Mask

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Prognosis. I'm Francesca Dy. Laura Carlson is out.

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<v Speaker 1>It's day one h since coronavirus was declared a global pandemic.

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<v Speaker 1>Our main story, masks and other personal protective equipment are

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<v Speaker 1>the only things standing between frontline healthcare workers and infection.

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<v Speaker 1>But fake or badly made masks are circulating through the

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<v Speaker 1>market and they can be very hard to spot. But first,

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<v Speaker 1>here's what happened in virus news today. President Donald Trump

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<v Speaker 1>will hold a massive indoor campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, tomorrow.

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<v Speaker 1>Cases in Oklahoma have skyrocketed since the beginning of June.

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<v Speaker 1>The White House has dismissed suggestions that the rally will

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<v Speaker 1>lead to a dangerous rise in actions, but epidemiologists and

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<v Speaker 1>other experts agree the rally is likely to cause a

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<v Speaker 1>so called superspreadery event. The b Ok Center where the

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<v Speaker 1>rally will take place, seats nineteen thousand people and President

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<v Speaker 1>Trump intends to pack it. Attendees will need to sign

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<v Speaker 1>waivers absolving the Trump campaign of liability, and temperature checks

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<v Speaker 1>will be done at the door. Masks will be provided,

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<v Speaker 1>but not required. Experts say these measures can ensure no

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<v Speaker 1>infected people will get into the venue, and that temperature

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<v Speaker 1>checks are virtually meaningless. The differences between the Trump rally

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<v Speaker 1>and the ongoing Black Lives Matter protests from a public

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<v Speaker 1>health perspective is the entirely enclosed nature of the arena

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<v Speaker 1>and the likelihood that an older, more vulnerable group will

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<v Speaker 1>be at the b Okay Center. The protests have not

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<v Speaker 1>yet been linked to a spike in cases. The United

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<v Speaker 1>Kingdom lowered its COVID nineteen alert level by one rank

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<v Speaker 1>to love three. That reflects the fact that the coronavirus

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<v Speaker 1>is no longer spreading exponentially in the community after almost

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<v Speaker 1>three months of lockdown. The new level allows for more

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<v Speaker 1>relaxation of social distancing measures. Some non essential shops had

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<v Speaker 1>already reopened this week, and finally there's now a sign

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<v Speaker 1>that the coronavirus reached Italy, the first European epicenter of

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<v Speaker 1>the crisis, two months before scientists first believed sewage samples

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<v Speaker 1>taken from the cities of Milan and Turin in December

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<v Speaker 1>showed traces of stars cove two, according to a new study.

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<v Speaker 1>The report is part of a regular round of testing

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<v Speaker 1>on environmental virology carried out by government agency since two

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<v Speaker 1>thousand seven, and now for today's main story. If there's

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<v Speaker 1>one simple technology that has come to the forefront during

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<v Speaker 1>the coronavirus pandemic, it's the face mask. Special masks called

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<v Speaker 1>respirators are designed to prevent doctors and nurses from catching

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<v Speaker 1>the virus when they treat infected people. But not all

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<v Speaker 1>respirators do what they're labeled to. Fakes and shoddy products abound,

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<v Speaker 1>and you can't always tell how many particles of mask

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<v Speaker 1>can filter just by looking at Bloomberg reporter Naomi Kraski

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<v Speaker 1>reported on how you catch a fake mask and the

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<v Speaker 1>lengths one German company is going to to fight the problem.

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<v Speaker 1>This is the sound of a lab at testing company

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<v Speaker 1>to if Nord from a video where workers are inspecting

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<v Speaker 1>the filters on face masks. In Germany, when people talk

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<v Speaker 1>about testing and the tooth, it's usually in the context

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<v Speaker 1>of cars. If you want to drive and twenty miles

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<v Speaker 1>an hour on the Autobahn or even twenty miles an

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<v Speaker 1>hour down your own street, you have to get everything

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<v Speaker 1>from breaks and lights to bright yellow hazard gear and

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<v Speaker 1>body rust checked out at your local toof testing center

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<v Speaker 1>every two years. But Germany's Industrial Quality Control companies inspect

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<v Speaker 1>a lot more than just vehicles. When the government started

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<v Speaker 1>shipping in face masks by the hundreds of millions from

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<v Speaker 1>China as coronavirus infections spiked around the country, it turned

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<v Speaker 1>to tuf Nord to help make sure the masks are

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<v Speaker 1>fit to use. It's far more than a rubber stamp.

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<v Speaker 1>Almost one quarter of the masks failed the test, and

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<v Speaker 1>executive at the company told me we are currently walking

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<v Speaker 1>in three shifts UM twenty four hours per day, seven

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<v Speaker 1>days a week, in order to cope with a tremendous

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<v Speaker 1>number of mass tests. That's Dirk stend Camp, CEO of

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<v Speaker 1>tiff Nord. Though they're known for cars testing workplace safety,

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<v Speaker 1>here is actually how they got their start. UM. The

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<v Speaker 1>foundation year was actually eighteen hundred sixty nine UM as

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<v Speaker 1>a North German association for the monitoring of steam boilers

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<v Speaker 1>actually UM. At that time we were based in Hamburg

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<v Speaker 1>UM and we were actually inaugurated to protect human beings

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<v Speaker 1>against the hazards of new technologies. There used to be

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<v Speaker 1>close to one hundred independent testing companies in Germany. Mergers

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<v Speaker 1>and acquisitions brought that number down to fewer than ten,

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<v Speaker 1>and each of them does business everywhere, not just in Germany.

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<v Speaker 1>Tif nord stend Camps company tests everything from data security

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<v Speaker 1>for smartphone apps to nuclear power plant safety. Before the

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<v Speaker 1>coronavirus was one of only a few institutions accredited to

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<v Speaker 1>test face masks at all. A few doctors needed the

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<v Speaker 1>most protective type of masks, respirators designed to filter out

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<v Speaker 1>airborne particles. With the virus that changed, doctors need to

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<v Speaker 1>be protected from tiny particles called aerosols. The Corona virus

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<v Speaker 1>is able to be transported through such small aerosol particles

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<v Speaker 1>of a size you are not able to see with

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<v Speaker 1>the human eye, even under a microscope, and these FFP

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<v Speaker 1>masks are now designed to actually filter these aerosols. The

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<v Speaker 1>process of screening the masks to make sure they can

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<v Speaker 1>do this job starts before a shipment ever leaves China.

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<v Speaker 1>The masks have to pass a literal smell test. TIFF's

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<v Speaker 1>local inspectors check for a chemical odor and test the

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<v Speaker 1>ability of the straps. They check the paperwork. A second

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<v Speaker 1>team is waiting when the plane touches down in Germany.

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<v Speaker 1>They do another visual inspection and check the freight papers,

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<v Speaker 1>and then our inspectors mark shipments either green that means

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<v Speaker 1>has past test or rett that means has not passed,

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<v Speaker 1>and only the green ones are then finally checked in

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<v Speaker 1>our laboratories. That means we take samples out of the

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<v Speaker 1>green marked or labeled masks bitches, and these southern specifically tested.

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<v Speaker 1>That's where things get really detailed. Let's go to Essen,

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<v Speaker 1>a city in the middle of Germany's rust belt, the

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<v Speaker 1>industrial rural area. Chief's testing labs there used to work

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<v Speaker 1>on face masks for coal miners. When the mining business declined,

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<v Speaker 1>they tested particle filters and everything from vacuum cleaners to

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<v Speaker 1>air conditioning. Their experts on dust. They even produce and

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<v Speaker 1>sell their own test dust. But for the past couple

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<v Speaker 1>of months their biggest business has been the virus. Here's

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<v Speaker 1>Dirk Wrention, who runs the lab year. The masks that

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<v Speaker 1>are made are made in China, and in China there

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<v Speaker 1>are some very good producers that ensure very reliable and

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<v Speaker 1>good mass deliveries, but precisely in the context of the

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<v Speaker 1>coronavirus pandemic, they are also various producers that are naturally

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<v Speaker 1>trying to do a good business and unfortunately are also

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<v Speaker 1>to some extent really dishonest. That means that At first

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<v Speaker 1>they ship good masks that also show good results and tests,

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<v Speaker 1>and then in following shipments deliver masks that at first

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<v Speaker 1>glands seem to be the same quality, but then show

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<v Speaker 1>themselves and flitter tests to be significantly worse. Wrenchens teams

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<v Speaker 1>pull samples from each batch of masks and test them

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<v Speaker 1>in a process that takes two or three days. This

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<v Speaker 1>is a special quick test, by the way, the full

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<v Speaker 1>European testing protocol for face masks takes a couple of weeks.

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<v Speaker 1>The first step is simply to put the mask on.

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<v Speaker 1>It's called a dawning test, and a three person panel

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<v Speaker 1>of testers with different head sizes, two men and a

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<v Speaker 1>woman tries each sample mask. They want to make sure

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<v Speaker 1>it's air tight but reasonably comfortable. Then it's on to

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<v Speaker 1>the less subjective measures. They strap the mask onto a

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<v Speaker 1>special machine that looks like a model of a human

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<v Speaker 1>head in order to measure how much air flow can

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<v Speaker 1>pass through the filter each minute. The idea is to

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<v Speaker 1>ensure that if you're wearing the mask for hours, you

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<v Speaker 1>won't feel like you're suffocating. Finally, comes the filter test.

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<v Speaker 1>They use a special chamber filled with a high concentration

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<v Speaker 1>of a test gas and the mask gets attached to

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<v Speaker 1>the end of a hose. Air from one side of

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<v Speaker 1>the masque from the outside of the mask is suctioned

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<v Speaker 1>through and measured to see how many particles arrive on

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<v Speaker 1>the other side. In order to meet the European f

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<v Speaker 1>FP two standard masks are supposed to filter out of aerosols.

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<v Speaker 1>That's about the same level of protection as a US

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<v Speaker 1>AND mask or a Chinese kN mask. But this is

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<v Speaker 1>where appearances can be deceiving. You can identis inus fildo

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<v Speaker 1>matrial alarm. You can have a really identical looking filter

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<v Speaker 1>material that lets through forty of the aerosols without being

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<v Speaker 1>able to tell the difference from another better mask by

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<v Speaker 1>touch or feel. The German Ministry of Health said that

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<v Speaker 1>about of the masks it's had delivered so far have

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<v Speaker 1>failed these tests. Looking across the board at all the

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<v Speaker 1>masks too has tested Wrench and put the figure slightly higher.

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<v Speaker 1>Just under a quarter of all masks that reached his

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<v Speaker 1>labs weren't up to grade. The quality was even worse

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<v Speaker 1>for simple medical masks, which filter fewer particles than it

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<v Speaker 1>was for the more high tech respirators. He said, that's

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<v Speaker 1>why tests like this absolutely necessary because simply due to

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<v Speaker 1>the enormous quantities of masks that are currently being shipped

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<v Speaker 1>to Germany, the risk is very very high that otherwise

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<v Speaker 1>low quality products would be delivered. Germany is by far

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<v Speaker 1>not the only country to face this problem. In the US,

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<v Speaker 1>US the Food and Drug Administration banded more than sixty

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<v Speaker 1>mask producers after they failed similar tests at the CDC's

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<v Speaker 1>National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory. So far, too teams have

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<v Speaker 1>helped screen more than eight hundred million masks. They're nowhere

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<v Speaker 1>near finished. As of the beginning of June, the German

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<v Speaker 1>government was still waiting on delivery of another one point

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<v Speaker 1>five billion masks through this fall. That was Naomi Krasgy

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<v Speaker 1>in Berlin. And that's our show today. For coverage of

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<v Speaker 1>the outbreak from one bureaus around the world, visit Bloomberg

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<v Speaker 1>dot com slash Coronavirus and if you like the show,

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<v Speaker 1>please leave us a review and a rating on Apple

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<v Speaker 1>Podcasts or Spotify. It's the best way to help more

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<v Speaker 1>listeners find our global reporting. The Prognosis Daily edition is

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<v Speaker 1>produced by topor Foreheas, Jordan Gospore, Magnus Hendrickson, and Laura Carlson.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's main story was reported by Naomi Creski. Original music

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<v Speaker 1>by Leo sidran Our. Editors are Rick Shine and Me

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<v Speaker 1>Francesca Levy. Bloomberg's head of podcasts is also Me.