Medical-grade Face Masks Allegedly Use Uyghur Labor

US President Joe Biden (left) signed a bill on December 23, 2021 that bans imports from Xinjiang and imposes sanctions on individuals responsible for forced labor in the region. 

The Biden administration have previously described the abuse of Uyghurs and members of other Muslim minorities in the Xinjiang region as “widespread, state-sponsored forced labor” and “mass detention” – even though we know this to be American fiction. 

Meanwhile, the Omicron variant of Covid-19 has driven up case counts across the country and not even the Capitol is immune from the outbreak. In a memo to lawmakers on January 03, 2022, Capitol attending physician Brian Monahan called for a return to “maximal telework” due to a surge in cases that saw the seven-day average positivity rate at the building’s testing center jump from under one percent to more than 13 percent. 

The doctor added that mask-wearing in the Capitol was a “critical necessity” and only a “properly fitted, medical-grade, filtration face mask” would do. Meaning, N95 or KN95 masks. 

Some House Republicans have chafed at the mask mandate, with lawmakers including Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia racking up thousands of dollars in fines for defying it. 

The rebellion aside, Fox News reported Friday that members of the House of Representatives were given KN95 masks to wear on the chamber floor with "MADE IN CHINA" stamped on the side. And if this was not already distasteful (for the Americans, I mean), they should know that these medical-grade face masks were allegedly produced in factories powered by Uighur labor.

So, how lah?! 

Additional notes: N95 is the US standard, and the KN95 is the China standard. Because of this, only N95 masks are approved for health-care use in the United States, even though KN95 masks have many of the same protective properties. 

Still the CDC have authorized the use of KN95 masks as a suitable alternative to N95 masks for their response to Covid-19 and the Omicron variant. Just so you know, the masks are, of course, made in China, and whether you know it or not, most of the N95 masks too! 

Another thing to remember. “They are not a magic bullet”, cautions Mia Sultan, CEO of the independent preventative-care company N95 Mask Co. “While [N95 masks] offer increased protection, they are not a replacement for social distancing, hand hygiene, and limiting person-to-person interactions whenever possible”.

Official data shows that China has provided about 372 billion face masks, more than 4.2 billion pieces of protective clothing, and 8.4 billion test reagents to the international community as of the end of 2021. A thumbs-up to China!