Government supplying 6.45 million masks to schools for new semester

Focus Taiwan
Date: 02/23/2020
By: Phoenix Hsu and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, Feb. 23 (CNA) The Ministry of Education has been distributing 6.45 million surgical masks to schools at the kindergarten to grade 12 level (K-12) and to after-school institutions, as part of the government efforts to contain the novel coronavirus as the spring semester is about to start.

With K-12 schools set to open Feb. 25 after a two-week delay, the ministry is also supplying them with 250,000 forehead thermometers and 84,000 liters of alcohol-based sanitizers.

Of the 6.45 million allocated face masks, 500,000 are being given to private kindergartens, 770,000 to after-school tutoring institutions and child care centers, and 5.18 million to K-12 schools, Huang Wen-ling (黃雯玲), head of the MOE's Department of Planning, told CNA Sunday.

The masks are for "backup" purposes and should be used only in emergency situations, such as if a child or teacher develops a fever, cough, sore throat or respiratory symptoms, Huang said.
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