The UK government got rid of more than three billion pieces of personal protective equipment (PPE) that it bought during the COVID-19 pandemic to reduce storage cost, according to official data published on Thursday. It includes items such as aprons, masks, gloves coveralls, eye protectors, and body bags. Some of them were sold or donated, most…

The UK government has written off £14.9 billion ($18.5 billion) of spending on COVID-19 medical supplies which remain unused, Britain’s public spending watchdog has revealed. In its report into the accounts of the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), published on Jan. 26, the National Audit Office (NAO) said that the UK government’s losses…

The UK government has launched legal proceedings against a firm which won millions of pounds worth of COVID-19 contracts allegedly with the help of a former Conservative member of the House of Lords. Baroness Michelle Mone was stripped of her Conservative Party whip earlier this month after being accused of having profited personally from PPE…

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said he was “shocked” by allegations that a Conservative peer has profited from COVID-19 contracts awarded during the pandemic. Baroness Michele Mone took a leave of absence from the House of Lords on Dec. 6 after being accused of having profited personally from PPE Medpro, a firm which won…

China is the greatest challenge to the United States: The Biden administration is labeling the communist country in its National Security Strategy. Chinese companies are delisting from American stock markets, with their value taking a plunge. One Western audit company is facing a massive fine for fraud. New evidence is hinting at a Chinese cover-up…

Commentary It is not unreasonable to conclude that surgical and cloth masks, used as they currently are being used (without other forms of PPE protection), have no impact on controlling the transmission of Covid-19 virus. Current evidence implies that face masks can be actually harmful. The body of evidence indicates that face masks are largely…

Congress distributed KN95 masks with a stamp that reads “Made in China” to members of the House of Representatives. The masks’ origin renewed concerns among lawmakers about America’s dependence on Chinese personal protective equipment (PPE). The House physician had required legislators to upgrade their masks to N95 or KN95, instead of using cloth ones, due…

The UK government’s use of a so-called “VIP lane” to award millions of pounds’ worth of contracts for personal protective equipment (PPE) was unlawful, the High Court has ruled. The Good Law Project and EveryDoctor took legal action over nearly £600 million ($822 million) of contracts awarded to pest control firm PestFix and hedge fund…

Government-mandated protective mask wearing policies have contributed to a more than 8,000 percent spike in global mask pollution with scientists calling on authorities to consider policies encouraging reusable PPE products in future. On Dec. 9, science journal Nature Sustainability published the results of a study that examined the correlation between litter levels of personal protective…

Some 25,900 tons of pandemic-related plastic now pollute the ocean, with the majority stemming from hospital and medical waste, a study has found. The study, published in the online journal PNAS on Monday, found that since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic until Aug. 23 this year, approximately 8.4 million tons of plastic waste had been…