US sues Chinese firm over half-million ‘fake’ N95 masks

US President Donald Trump answers questions from reporters during an event about protecting seniors, in the East Room of the White House, Thursday, April 30, 2020, in Washington.

The US Justice Department sued a Chinese company for selling nearly a half million fake and substandard N95 respirator to US buyers in April as the COVID-19 pandemic swept the country. In a complaint filed in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, the department said Guangdong-based King Year Packaging and Printing shipped three batches of purported N95 masks, needed to protect medical and other personnel from the coronavirus, to US buyers.

The company falsely claimed the 495,200 masks it shipped were met the N95 standard and also falsely claimed they were certified by the US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), according to the complaint. The complaint indicated the importer of the fake N95 masks paid more than $1 million for them.

“The charges alleged in this complaint show a blatant disregard for the safety of American citizens,” FBI agent Douglas Korneski, who investigated the masks deal, said in a statement. “Had it not been for the actions of the investigative team, this defendant would have put first responders, hospital employees, and other front-line workers directly in harm’s way with faulty equipment just to make a buck.” The Chinese company was charged with four counts of importing misbranded and substandard health products and making false to the US Food and Drug Administration. Each charge carries a maximum fine of $500,000, or if greater, twice what the company earned in selling the masks. 

[AFP]

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US offers aid to South Africa to help fight the coronavirus

The US government, through the US Agency for International Development (USAID), is donating up to 1,000 ventilators and accompanying equipment to South Africa to assist with its national response to Covid-19.

The donated ventilators, which were produced in the United States, reflect state-of-the-art and in-demand technology, the US Embassy said in a statement on Tuesday (12 May).

It said that the ventilators are compact, deployable, and support both invasive and non-invasive applications.

“For more than a half-century, the United States has been the largest contributor to global health security and humanitarian assistance.

“These ventilators are another example of the American spirit of generosity as we battle this virus at home in the United States and together abroad with our partner countries,” said US ambassador Lana Marks.

Marks said that the ventilators will give South Africa flexibility in treating those patients affected by the virus. life-saving ventilator units alone are valued at $14 million (R255 million), with the accompanying equipment, service plans, and shipping totalling over $20 million (R364 million).

The embassy noted that the ventilator donation is in addition to our previously announced support to South Africa for Covid-19.

Previously the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has committed $13.2 million (R240.6 million) in funding, along with $8.4 million (R153 million) in assistance through the U.S. Department of Defense which provided the first in a series of donations of personal protective equipment.

Altogether, this brings the total US, government financial commitment to South Africa’s Covid-19 response to over US$41.6 million (R767 million).

Additionally, through the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the United States is supporting up to 5,400 community healthcare workers to assist with the South African government’s community Covid-19 screening campaign and provide HIV treatment support on the front lines.

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COVID-19 will disappear without vaccine – US President, Trump insisted

 

US President, Donald Trump has said the dreaded Coronavirus pandemic is going to “end without a vaccine.”

Trump told the press during his daily briefing at the White House at the weekend, “This is going to go away without a vaccine, it’s gonna go away, and we’re not going to see it again, hopefully, after a period of time.”

He added, “You may have some flare-ups, and I guess I would expect that.”

As at Friday, the deadly virus had infected at least 1.2 million people in the US killing more than 76,000.

The leading expert on infectious diseases on the US COVID-19 task force, Dr. Anthony Fauci, had repeatedly said a vaccine is still at least a year to 18 months from being produced.

Meanwhile, President Trump insists he relies on what doctors tell him, adding that doctors believe COVID-19 will go away but did not say if it was going to be this year.

“It doesn’t mean, frankly, it’s going to be gone before the fall or after the fall, but eventually it’s going to go away.

The question is whether we will need a vaccine. At some point, it will probably go away by itself.”

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US picks Kenya for bilateral trade deal

President Uhuru Kenyatta and US President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington, DC during an official visit August 27, 2018. FILE PHOTO | JOAN PERERUAN | NATION MEDIA GROUP 

The Trump administration has tapped Kenya as the first sub-Saharan nation to start talks with the US on a bilateral trade deal, the Bloomberg News agency reported on Tuesday.

The prestigious designation is expected to be announced during President Kenyatta's visit to Washington next week, Bloomberg said.

Kenya's Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Macharia Kamau confirmed the report.

TRADE PACT

Mr Kamau told Bloomberg that the US and Kenya are aiming for significant progress towards an agreement in the coming months.

He added that President Kenyatta's Cabinet will probably approve discussions with the US this week.

Completion of a bilateral trade pact could bring major benefits to Kenya's economy and enhance the nation's political standing in Africa and beyond.

Trump administration officials have previously indicated that the US wants to forge bilateral trade deals with sub-Saharan countries as successor arrangements to the multilateral African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) programme that is due to expire in 2025.

TRADE PARTNER

State Department diplomats have said the US will try to hammer out on a deal with a single sub-Saharan nation that would serve as a model for other individual trade pacts in the region.

Kenya ranks as the United States' sixth-biggest trade partner in the sub-Saharan region, Bloomberg noted, with total exchanges of goods and services between the two countries reaching nearly $1.2 billion in 2018.

Kenya has also been one of the leading beneficiaries of the 20-year-old African Growth and Opportunity Act which gives preferential treatment to exports from selected countries. Agoa has been especially helpful to Kenya's textile sector.

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