Kebs flags down three substandard face mask brands

The Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) has flagged down sub-standard medical face masks circulating in the market.
It warned Kenyans against buying brands such as Wandas manufactured by Wandas General Supplies, and Arax manufactured by Arax Mills limited.

Hela Intimates EPZ has also been flagged for putting lives of Kenyans at risk with its unnamed facemask brand.

“The manufacturers are required to recall all the substandard masks from the market and institute corrective actions whose effectiveness shall be confirmed by KEBS before the suspension of the standardization mark permits is lifted,”
“Manufacturers are also advised to strictly adhere to marking and labeling requirements as per the relevant Standard.”

The increase in demand for face masks follows the declaration of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The ministry of Health vide Legal Notice No. 50 of April 6 issued several directives among them that every Kenyan who is in a public place shall use a proper face mask that must cover the users’ mouth and nose to reduce the risk of exposure to the novel coronas virus.

This has led to the temptation by unscrupulous economic operators to quickly cash in on the same through offering for sale face masks that are not properly certified and or compromising on the standards of the same.

To support the fight against the COVID –19 pandemic, the standards body has developed the following Standards on facemasks: -1.KS 2636: 2016: Kenya standard specification for surgical masks,  KS 2409-6:2018: Health care wastes management commodities-Specification for Filtering facemasks that protect against particle and KPAS 2917:2020-Reusable cloth mask.

Kenya’s coronavirus caseload on Tuesday jumped to 18,581 after 606 people tested positive for the virus in the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Health has said.

The new infections were noted after the testing of 4,888 samples. According to the health ministry, 284,500 people have so far been tested since the first case on March 13, 2020.

The country also lost 14 patients over the 24 hours bringing the death toll to 299. The death cases represent yet another blow to the country because it is another day that Kenya has registered double-digit mortality.

75 patients recovered from the virus and this implies that the total number of recoveries now stands at 7,908.

Almost 40 countries have reported record single-day increases in coronavirus infections over the past week, around double the number that did so the previous week, according to a Reuters tally showing a pick-up in the pandemic in every region of the world.

The rate of cases has been increasing not only in countries like the United States, Brazil, and India, which have dominated global headlines with large outbreaks but in Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, Bolivia, Sudan, Ethiopia, Bulgaria, Belgium, Uzbekistan, and Israel, among others.

Many countries, especially those where officials eased earlier social distancing lockdowns, are experiencing a second peak more than a month after recording their first.