- Camp empty: country burned its last coronavirus masks
After the country of NRW stockpiled millions of masks during the pandemic, all the reserves have now been depleted: According to the health ministry, the last supplies of protective equipment have been incinerated as they had expired.
In February, the so-called state health reserve still comprised around 3.7 million coronamasks, which were centrally stored in Münster. Afterwards, around 30,000 masks that were still usable were distributed for free, according to the state. The rest of the "mouth-nose protection" (MNS) has since been "thermally disposed of", as the ministry put it: "Consequently, there are no MNS left from the state or federal reserve in North Rhine-Westphalia."
While at the beginning of the pandemic, NRW - like the federal government and all other states - was desperately searching for suppliers of protective masks and paying exorbitant prices, there are currently no concrete plans for a new stockpile: "Whether and to what extent the state reserve will be continued has not yet been finally decided," the health ministry said. "From our point of view, a state reserve can only be a supplement to the federal reserve and must be coordinated with it. Therefore, it remains to be seen how the development of the federal reserve progresses."
The government's decision not to immediately replenish the state reserve of protective masks after the pandemic has raised questions. Similarly, the federal government and other states also need to reconsider their strategies on maintaining reserves of essential equipment like masks.
