Bought for 4.4 million in the pandemic: NRW apparently burns 6.7 million "craft masks"

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Warehouse with corona protective equipment in Düsseldorf: Ten minutes to assemble

Photo: Marcel Kusch / dpa

Joachim Stamp, then Minister for Family Affairs in North Rhine-Westphalia, apologized profusely for the “handicraft masks” that went to daycare centers in North Rhine-Westphalia at the beginning of the corona pandemic.

"They are not tinkering aunts and tinkering uncles, but highly qualified educational staff or day care workers," wrote the FDP politician to the institutions in 2020.

The indignation there was also great for other reasons – because what archers and other specialists were supposed to use to protect themselves from infection was a DIY kit from a Bielefeld company that you could assemble yourself.

The staff had to assemble the masks themselves in their free time, it should have taken them a good ten minutes per finished mask.

According to the dpa news agency, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia has burned almost 6.7 million of these “craft masks” so far.

The State Ministry of Health confirmed that medical masks had been “thermally recycled” at a unit price of 66 cents at the time.

The purchase had cost around 4.4 million euros at the time.

The Ministry of Health announced that the 6.7 million masks had expired.

"Sign of Disrespect"

There are countless other masks in a “locked-up camp” in the country that have to be disposed of.

In addition, the shelf life for millions of protective gowns expires this year.

Health Minister Karl-Josef Laumann told the "WAZ" last week that these gowns - as long as they have not expired - would also be donated to aid organizations.

According to the ministry, many gowns in NRW come from the manufacturer van Laack.

The Ministry of Health ordered them from the textile company in Mönchengladbach in spring 2020 – for 45 million euros.

The son of the then CDU Prime Minister Armin Laschet had made contact at the time, and there were months of discussions about the award of the contract.

The opposition even commissioned its own assessment of the quality of the gowns - because the clinics supplied had sorted out some batches.

The SPD MP Dennis Maelzer said on Wednesday about the masks: »During the pandemic, 'handicraft masks' and useless protective gowns for daycare workers and hospital staff were a sign of disrespect.

Now they are just fuel – which again shows a lack of respect for taxpayers.«

apr/dpa