PPE Medpro's suppliers also sourced face masks rejected by Australia

Suppliers of PPE for a company linked to the Conservative peer Michelle Mone were also involved during the Covid pandemic in supplying millions of face masks to the Australian government that were rejected over safety concerns.

- David Conn Christopher Knaus

Australia’s Department of Health and Aged Care told the Guardian that of 50m face masks supplied to fulfill a government contract awarded to a small online retailer, Australian Business Mobiles (ABM), the overwhelming majority – 45.7m – were deemed unusable for its health service. A department spokesperson said five of seven manufacturers that supplied the masks were “deemed non-compliant with quality regulations”.

The masks were delivered to Australia’s national medical stockpile on mixed pallets, the spokesperson said, so it was not possible to ascertain which masks in the stockpile were compliant. Of the masks that were deployed, two batches were subject to defect notices in March 2022 warning against their use in hospitals and other healthcare settings.