Gov. Gavin Newsom’s medical mask deal with a Chinese manufacturer will proceed after the company succeeded in obtaining federal safety certification, following two missed deadlines.
Newsom said Monday that supplier BYD had secured safety certification for its N95 particulate-filtering respirators, clearing the way for California to receive 150 million masks. A spokeswoman for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health confirmed that the certification was granted Sunday.
“This new supply of N95 masks, as well as the surgical masks this contract has already provided, are game-changing and play a crucial role in our state’s public safety and reopening strategy,” Newsom said in a statement.
Newsom’s office said the N95 masks, part of a $990 million deal, will be distributed to medical workers and others on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic.
The governor announced the BYD deal on “The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC in the early days of the pandemic, describing it as a major victory for the state at a time when personal protective equipment was in short supply. California was originally supposed to begin receiving the masks in early May.
But the contract with BYD, or Build Your Dreams, was thrown into disarray when federal officials denied the company’s application for safety certification.
BYD missed two deadlines to obtain certification, forcing it to refund nearly $250 million to the state. California extended the deadline twice, including last week after BYD missed a May 31 deadline.
A BYD spokesman earlier attributed the N95 certification problems to a “documentation control” issue. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has said it tested the company’s masks and sent a team to its factories in China.
BYD has also sent more than 110 million lower-grade surgical masks to California as part of the deal. The federal government does not need to certify those masks, and they have already been distributed across the state.
Newsom’s office said the surgical masks have been sent to to workers in hospitals, agriculture, schools, hotels and retail shops, among other industries.
BYD mainly manufactured electric buses until the coronavirus pandemic struck. It then branched into personal protective equipment for medical workers.