Pandemic
Millions of corona masks are burned
As planned, the federal government wants to have corona masks with an expired expiry date burned. photo
© Thomas Frey/dpa
Hundreds of millions of corona masks that are no longer durable must be destroyed. The decision of the federal government is also criticized.
As planned, the federal government wants to incinerate hundreds of millions of corona masks that have passed their best-before date. The “Welt” reported, citing information from the Federal Ministry of Health, of at least 755 million surgical and FFP2 masks to be destroyed.
Corresponding tenders for waste disposal companies had already been announced in October, according to the newspaper, companies could apply until the end of May. A ministry spokesman told the newspaper that around three million masks had previously been burned. A majority of the federal states are also planning to burn corona masks that are no longer usable or have already done so, according to a query by “Welt” at the state ministries of health.
The health policy spokeswoman for the left in the Bundestag, Kathrin Vogler, criticized the incineration. The surplus of masks after the end of the mask requirement was foreseeable. The ministry should have given the masks to medical practices, hospitals or facilities for the disabled free of charge in good time so that they no longer had to order them, she argued.
In view of the lack of masks at the beginning of the corona pandemic, the Federal Ministry of Health and then Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) bought several billion masks in spring 2020. The Federal Court of Auditors later reprimanded a “massive overprocurement”. According to the authority, a total of 5.8 billion masks and expenditure of 6.3 billion euros were involved.