Of those faulty batches from two manufacturers, 279,400 were distributed, including 200,000 to clinics as reserve stock, 63,000 to dentists and 16,400 to state administrations.

Responding jointly to a parliamentary question on the matter, health minister Pauline Lenert and economy minister Franz Fayot (both LSAP) said that all masks were recalled by the logistics cell in charge of distribution.

The ministers went on to say that the stock of FFP2 (filtering facepiece) masks, used by workers in the healthcare sector, were sufficient to meet demands in the country’s hospitals.

Mandatory masks

Luxembourg made the wearing of masks mandatory from 20 April 2020, just over a month after declaring a state of emergency.

The global scramble for mask stocks prompted a wave of counterfeit products on the market as well as unfilled orders and scams.

Earlier in 2020, the health minister reported that large orders had to be reduced because of the lack of availability of goods. In some cases, orders were only partially delivered or not delivered at all.

Luxembourg’s procurement unit for ordering personal protective masks at the start of the crisis received 47 offers. Based on price, quantities promised and delivery dates, it ordered 85 million masks, costing between 12-68 cents each. During 2020 Luxembourg issued each resident and cross-border worker with 50 disposable masks.

According to Eurostat statistics, Luxembourg ordered €76m worth of masks in the first half of the year, equivalent to €121 per capita.