DRDO Refutes Report That Chinese PPE Kits Failed Safety Tests at Its Laboratory Amid Coronavirus Crisis
The DRDO rejected a report that claimed the government agency found thousands of PPE kits, made in China, unusable amid coronavirus crisis.
New Delhi, April 16: The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on Thursday rejected a report that claimed the government agency found thousands of personal protection equipment (PPE) kits that were made in China, unusable amid coronavirus crisis. A report by Economic Times said thousands of PPE kits that were donated to the Indian government, were found unusable because they failed safety checks. Coronavirus Tracker Live.
Tests were conducted at a DRDO lab in Gwalior, the report added. DRDO, however, refuted this report. "DRDO does not pass or fail kits provided to it for testing by Hindustan Latex Ltd or any other vendor. Our labs only carry out tests as per set standards and provide that to the agencies concerned," officials told news agency ANI. India has ordered 15 million PPE gears besides a few million testing kits from China, India's Ambassador in Beijing Vikram Misri had said. Coronavirus Cases in India Rise to 12,380, Death Toll Due to COVID-19 Jumps to 414.
The orders have been placed by several state governments and both public and private health sector. The Economic Times' report claimed that of 170,000 PPE kits that arrived in India on April 5, about 50,000 failed quality tests conducted at the DRDO lab in Gwalior. "Two small consignments with 30,000 and 10,000 PPE kits, too, failed tests," the report quoted a person who according to them is aware of the matter.
Ever since its factories resumed operations after over two-month-long lockdown in Wuhan, where the coronavirus pandemic first originated, China has been busy exporting medical equipment across the world, including India. On Wednesday evening, China sent a special aircraft carrying 50,000 PPE kits from Guangzhou city. The consignment was received in the Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International (LGBI) Airport at Guwahati by Assam's Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 16, 2020 05:29 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).