Nigeria, March 29 -- Authorities in the Netherlands said they have recalled over half a million face masks imported from China after discovering they are substandard.

The problem with the masks delivered by a Chinese manufacturer on March 21 was that they did not close over the face properly, or had defective filters, the Dutch health ministry said in a statement on Saturday, according to AFP.

The recall concerned nearly half of the shipment of 1.3 million FFP2 medical face masks - loose-fitting rectangles that cover the nose and mouth. It was mostly meant to prevent and protect patients and health caregivers from spreading and contracting Covid19, a strain of coronavirus that has kept over half a million people bedridden.

The statemen...