At least nine Spanish health workers from the Puerta del Mar Hospital in Cadiz are in isolation after using the defective masks

At least nine Spanish health workers from the Puerta del Mar Hospital in Cadiz are in isolation after using the defective masks.

THE first cases of Coronavirus in healthcare providers from Cádiz have been confirmed as they were infected by the use of defective masks. At least nine of the professionals who had used them at the Puerta del Mar Hospital have been placed in isolation on Monday evening.
Over the weekend, 261 tests were carried out on doctors, nurses and other health workers who had worked on the front line in the fight against the coronavirus using the defective masks at the hospital in Cádiz. Of these, at least four people have already tested positive and another five are in quarantine pending a second test to rule out a possible false negative.
Although it is impossible to pinpoint the causes of the contagion, the objective of the tests carried out was to check if they had been infected in the last few weeks, especially after confirming that they had used the material that the government recalled a few days ago.
The defective Garry Galaxy brand masks wrapped in a green bag had been delivered to all primary care centres and hospitals in the province of Cádiz. The material came to be used in many of them, as well as in different nursing homes such as the one in Ubrique which has seen coronavirus outbreak with the most fatalities in the province.
The Ministry of Health ordered last Thursday the removal of these masks that had been used in the first line of defence against the coronavirus after proving deficiencies in their protection capacity, in addition to their failure to comply with European regulations. The central government had purchased these materials from a manufacturer that is part of the list of suppliers authorised by China.
The lack of effectiveness of these masks has exposed hundreds of professionals who came to use them in plants with hospitalised Covid-19 patients. In this situation, the union has requested that the safety and health committees be convened “urgently and exceptionally” to address this issue.