  In July, Social Security made a recall for approximately 12 million disposable masks bought during the pandemic. - A.M. Costa Rica illustrative photo - |
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 Published Monday, November 23, 2020 Social
Security purchase
$2 million-plus in face masks By the A.M. Costa Rica staff Social Security purchased 15 million disposable masks for $2,169,000 from the L&B REPUBLIC company. According to the health authorities, the deal was made under the emergency purchase modality, due to a series of "unexpected events." They had bids from 39 companies. The masks will be distributed among health workers who are at the front lines of the covid-19 health crisis. The pandemic changed the market rules and the consumption pattern increased exponentially. Since July 2020, the projection of the need for this medical supply was estimated at more than 3 million per month, according to Social Security. During the pandemic, which began in March in Costa Rica, more than 15 million removable masks have been distributed to health workers, health authorities said. This purchase of disposable masks does not stop the investigations of alleged multi-million dollar deals of defective disposable masks in Social Security. Last week, María Cristina Díaz-Rivera, legal advisor for Social Security, was called to a hearing before the deputies of Congress, as part of the investigation into the agreements made after the declaration of emergency due to the covid-19 epidemic. According to Díaz, she has requested to a woman surnamed Martínez- Ruíz, who is the general director of the company MR Comunicaciones Política S.A., responsible for providing disposable face masks that allegedly did not meet the agreed requirements, to pay the fine of $475,000 that was demanded to her. The fine corresponds to the delay in the delivery of disposable masks, Diaz said. These disposable masks were not delivered before July 7 as stated in the agreement. However, Diaz is also being investigated for the case of the alleged defective masks. She abstained from answering more Deputies' questions. In September, the Social Security opened an investigation on five workers and Martínez- Ruíz. In August, the deputies of the Commission of Income and Public Expenses of the Congress approved a motion to open an investigation on the processes taken for the purchase and agreements carried out by Social Security, concerning the acquiring of masks and protective supplies for the institution's healthcare workers. In September, as a result of the first stage of the investigation on the $2,439,000 purchase of alleged defective disposable masks, Social Security determined that two companies delivered the product that does not comply with the quality control. The first company, MR Communicaciones Politica S.A., owned by Martínez- Ruíz, which provided 570,000 units of the Chinese standard KN95 masks, costing $1,299,000. The second company is Bioplus Care, which provided 300,000 units of KN95 masks, purchased for $1,140,000.  In August, Social Security suspended four employees for four months with pay, for the same investigation: Luis Fernando Porras-Melendez manager of the logistics department, and two other employees who worked as advisers in the same department, surnamed Vindas- Céspedes and Díaz- Rivera, in addition to another employee which Social Security has not named. The investigation seeks to determine the facts and the corresponding sanctions to the people linked in the case, if applicable, authorities said in its statement. In the first stage of the investigation, the Occupational Health technical experts concluded that the product delivered by that company "does not comply, nor is it the same as requested, neither technically nor administratively, so we are facing a breach of contract," Social Security said. In July, Social Security made a recall for approximately 12 million disposable masks bought during the pandemic. The organization began a process of recovering disposable surgical masks that were handed over to the health workers. According to the authorities, the masks were received at the Social Security warehouses on June 30 and immediately distributed to healthcare workers. Even though Social Security is a public health institution, and the purchase was made under a National Emergency Decree due to the covid-19 pandemic, the files of the suspects were declared confidential until the investigation was completed. Regardless of the alleged faulty facemasks, healthcare workers continue attending to an increasing number of deaths caused by covid-19. The Health Ministry announced on Sunday the most up-to-date status of the virus in the country: • 1,187 new covid-19 cases, bringing the total to 48,438 active cases. • 19,013 foreign-born people have been infected with a total of 129,418 cases since March, approximately 14.7% of the total cases. Of these, authorities confirmed the death of 32 foreign-born patients. But since October, there is no updated information about foreign-born deaths due to covid-19. • 470 patients are being treated in public hospitals, where 217 patients are in ICU’s in delicate health conditions (ages range from a 1-year-old to a 90-year-old). And 253 patients are in recovery rooms. Many of the remaining infected patients are quarantined in their homes. • 79,372 coronavirus patients have fully recovered, which is a 61.3% recovery rate of the total cases since March. • 366,844 medical covid-19 tests have been made. This according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering of Johns Hopkins University. • 1,608 deaths of people infected with covid-19, approximately 1.2% death rate of the total cases since March. Of these 613 women and 995 men. The ages range from a 9-year-old to a 101-year-old person. Readers can see the updated number of total patients in each district at the National Distance Education University on its Covid-19 Map.  According to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering, CSSE, at Johns Hopkins University, the pandemic has killed 1,386,596 people worldwide. ------------------------------ What have you heard about investigations for alleged odd purchasing of medical supplies during the pandemic in your country? We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to news@amcostarica.com |
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