Fraud Abounds As Federal Government, States Scramble To Procure Masks For Front-Line Workers
Investigators are busting elaborate scams across the country of people trying to profit from a shortage of face masks for health care workers. Meanwhile, in New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo orders employers to provide essential workers with protective gear.
The New York Times:
Man Charged In Scheme To Sell 125 Million Nonexistent Masks
A Georgia man was charged with fraud after attempting to sell millions of nonexistent respirator masks to the government as it struggles to shore up supplies of vital medical equipment during the coronavirus pandemic, the authorities said. The man, Christopher Parris, 39, of Atlanta, was arrested on Friday and charged with wire fraud in federal court in Washington, the Justice Department said in a statement. (Diaz and Ortiz, 4/11)
Los Angeles Times:
Coronavirus Scam: 39 Million Masks Exposed As Fake
A powerful California union that claimed to have discovered 39 million masks for healthcare workers fighting the novel coronavirus was duped in an elaborate scam uncovered by FBI investigators, the U.S. attorney’s office said Friday. U.S. Atty. Scott Brady of the Western District of Pennsylvania said FBI agents and prosecutors stumbled onto the arrangement while looking into whether they could intercept the masks for the Federal Emergency Management Agency under the Defense Production Act. (Gutierrez and Elmahrek, 4/11)
Boston Globe:
Massachusetts Hospitals Will Get N95 Mask Decontamination For Free
Massachusetts hospitals will be able to decontaminate their N95 respirator masks for free, helping to address a crisis for healthcare workers on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic. Battelle, an Ohio nonprofit, has set up one of its giant decontamination machines in Somerville, where it has been hailed as a “game-changer.” The system, which uses concentrated hydrogen peroxide vapor to decontaminate up to 80,000 respirator masks each day, is currently undergoing testing. (Ostriker, 4/11)
Boston Globe:
Medical Workers Share Concerns About Masks Delivered By Patriots Plane
As well-intended and carefully executed as the covert mission to China had been, at least some and possibly many of the roughly one-million protective masks on the team plane were not the time-tested, industry-standard N95 masks that medical workers wear when treating coronavirus patients. Rather, they were a Chinese version known as a KN95 mask that some hospitals in Boston and beyond have so far declined to use and remain reluctant about today. (Arnett, 4/12)
Politico:
Cuomo Orders Employers To Provide Essential Workers With Masks
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said on Sunday that he will order employers who are still open and interacting with the public to provide workers with some sort of face covering. A forthcoming executive order will direct “employers to provide essential workers with a cloth or surgical facemask to their employees when they are interacting with the public. And they should provide those masks cost-free,” he said. (Mahoney, 4/12)
