THE NETHERLANDS: The government of Netherlands has instructed its hospitals to send back some 600,000 masks that had earlier been imported from China.

This means that about half of the 1.3-million purchased consignment have been sent back after they failed to meet the quality standards, international media reports have said.

The masks which had been sent to different hospitals in the country managing the Covid-19 pandemic have been recalled.

The rest of the already imported masks have now been put on hold.

The Netherlands had received masks from a Chinese manufacturer on 21 March.

The masks — FFP2 grade — used to filter out around 94 percent of solid and liquid particulate matter in the air have been faulty.

The Netherlands has witnessed some 1,800 coronavirus cases and a death toll of over 600.

Meanwhile, Spain, too, is set to return some 9,000 test kits back to China due to their substandard quality.

The country had purchased some $467 million worth of medical supplies from China.

Likewise, over 80 per cent of the testing kits sent by China to Czech Republic have proved to be faulty, reports said. (With inputs from Agencies)