FRANKFURT (Reuters) – As nations scramble for face masks to protect their health care employees from the coronavirus, German and U.S. manufacturers in Europe are seeing an opportunity more completely to take on huge Asian competitors and bring mask production closer to house.
Workers of the city administration of Kamenz pack security masks for sending out by mail to the households of the city, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues in Kamenz, Germany, April 9,2020 REUTERS/Matthias Rietschel
Dealing with a single COVID-19 patient needs the day-to-day use of about 15 so-called N95 masks, according to recommendations here by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). With about 700,000 Europeans coping with the infection, that equates into an everyday need for about 10 million N95 masks, or more than 3.8 billion a year.
Both the sturdy N95 respirator masks, likewise known as FFP2, and easier surgical masks require a great synthetic meltblown fabric utilized as filters.
Germany’s family-owned Innovatec GmbH & Co. KG is due in mid-June to increase production of the fabric while U.S. product packaging g