Bahrain Mirror (Exclusive): Frustrated Bahrainis, who were involved in purchasing the poor quality masks that were introduced to the markets in the past two days by the Bahrain Defence Force (BDF), described the whole situation as an inhuman exploitation, greedy abuse and theft of people's money. The Bahraini Commerce Minister announced the introduction of a million masks on Thursday and another million on Friday (April 10).

Bahrainis on Twitter expressed their frustration regarding this ugly exploitation they were subjected to; however, some blamed the shops where they bought the masks from, thinking they were the ones who produced them to exploit people due to their need to purchase them. Perhaps these people don't know that the party who sold these masks to these pharmacies and shops is the Bahrain Defence Force.

Khalifa Al Khalifa published on Twitter a photo of the mask he bought from a big and famous supermarket in Bahrain and put his palm next to it to show its small size and poor quality. Al Khalifa said that this is ridiculous, wondering "where are the health standards? Who gave them the license? Where is the Commerce Ministry? Watch out people and don't get fooled in Riffa branch. It is so absurd that you can only buy 10 masks."

Another tweeter commented on the incident saying "believe me, your ghutrah [Keffiyeh] is more useful than what they call a mask."

"Seeing these masks, Coronavirus is dying out of laughter," a tweeter sarcastically said.

Another made fun of the square size of the masks, while someone else said that the size of the mask is a catastrophe as it doesn't cover the required area of the face well, which means that they are not protecting themselves and not protecting us as well.

One of the tweeters slammed the Commerce Chamber, saying that Minister Zayed Al-Zayani should take measures against the shops that manufactured these masks that don't meet health standards. This is an epidemic, not a game.

Bahraini actress Sumaya Al-Khinna wrote: "The mask should have health standards of thickness and protection from the droplets which may fly from sneezing and cough, to protect you and others. The Ministry of Commerce should set these standards in the terms of the sale of masks."

Tweeter Ahmed Al-Shamsan said that unfortunately he could only buy this quality of masks yesterday.

"Al-Qahtani says that usage of masks by healthy people is wrong and has negative results, then they sell poor quality masks to people," noting that they were sold by the government. "The masks distributed by the government to pharmacies and shops are very bad and don't deserve their price," a Bahraini stated on Twitter.

Arabic Version