TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A total of 250 ventilators from China delivered to Great Britain proved so unreliable that they posed a threat to the lives of patients, The Guardian reported Thursday (April 30).

Amid the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, several countries have reported quality problems with products received from China, including masks, supposedly protective clothing, and in this case, ventilators.

The report named the machines as Shangrila 510 ventilators produced by Beijing Aeonmed for use in ambulances, not in hospitals. As soon as hospitals in Britain received the items, technical staff spent several days trying to get the machines to work without success, The Guardian reported.

Medical staff wrote a letter to the British government, which said that the oxygen supply was unstable and unreliable and that the tubing that did not fit, in addition to other basic design problems that could lead to the death of patients.

Other sources described problems with personal protective equipment recently received from China, while in some cases the delivery featured T-shirts instead of surgical gowns, according to the report.

Because of the unreliability of the ventilators, the entire consignment of 250 machines was abandoned, The Guardian reported. Luckily, the number of patients needing relevant treatment has not been as high as initially feared.

When the ventilators arrived from China in early April, Cabinet Minister Michael Gove publicly thanked the country for its assistance.