3M CEO Mike Roman has said that their medical masks should not be sold in stores to consumers and should instead go to health workers.
According to 3M CEO Mike Roman, their medical masks should not be available in stores and should instead be going to health workers on the front lines, caring for coronavirus-infected patients.
3M is the largest producer of medical face masks, particularly the N95 respirator mask. Currently, hospitals across the US are facing a shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE), including N95 masks, gloves and surgical gowns, amid the coronavirus pandemic.
In response to the shortage, Roman said the the company's N95 masks should not be showing up in stores and that he was "disappointed" that the masks were selling in some stores over the weekend, pertaining to Target.
However, Target claimed that a select number of stores in the Seattle area were selling the N95 masks "in error."
A Target spokesperson said: "We apologize for our error. We worked quickly to remove these masks from our stores and donated them to the Washington State Department of Health for distribution to local hospitals."
The retail giant added that it has thoroughly reviewed its full inventory for any additional masks and will donate them the medical community.
Due to the shortage, medical equipment manufacturers are faced with pressure to quickly boost their current production to meet the demand amidst the rapidly rising new cases of coronavirus infections.
Roman claimed that 3M has increased its production of N95 respirators and doubled its global output to nearly 100 million per month.
In a LinkedIn post, the 3M CEO explained: "In the United States we are producing 35 million respirators per month. Of these, more than 90% are now designated for healthcare workers, with the remaining deployed to other industries also critical in this pandemic, including energy, food and pharmaceutical companies.
