Chinese firm dismisses reports about shipping counterfeit N95 masks to United States

Chinese mask maker Dasheng Manufacture Co. Ltd has dismissed reports claiming that its N95 masks shipped to the United States were found to have ear loops and hence, were counterfeit.

According to reports, Dasheng has said that they don't manufacture N95 masks with ear loops and that they have never shipped such masks. The original N95 masks come with headbands that stretch across the back of the head, making it a tighter fit. 

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As per reports, Wu Shengrong, chairman of Dasheng has said that his company never exported N95 masks with ear loops. Wu said that the masks they have exported to the United States had headbands.

Ever since the reports of counterfeit N95 masks have emerged, the company has posted a warning on its website stating, "We don't have any distributors, dealers or branch factories. Beware of counterfeits."

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According to reports, the counterfeit masks were first identified in Los Angeles and were stamped falsely indicating they were certified by the US government. But in an Associated Press investigation, it was revealed that the masks had ear loops on them rather than the original headbands. The boxes that arrived in Los Angeles had the Dasheng logo on it, following which the company denied sending any shipment of N95 masks without headbands. 

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However, despite the company dismissing reports of shipping counterfeit masks with ear loops, one of the exporter told the press that he is confident that his shipment came from the company's factory in China and he was told the same by his partner residing in the country.

Masks with ear loops are cheaper and easier to produce as it can be done just using glue and other materials. While the masks with headbands are generally more expensive because the bands are stitched to the face-covering and it is more effective in filtering airborne particles.  

COVID-19 in the US

The United States is the worst affected country in the world with over 1.4 million confirmed cases and more than 89,000 deaths. According to figures on the Worldometer website, the United States recorded over 12,000 new infections in the last 24 hours along with 561 new deaths. Currently, there are 10,76,398 active cases in the United States with 16,060 of them under critical condition. 

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