Los Angeles Times
Date: Feb. 7, 2020
By: Cindy Chang, Shashank Bengall,; Victoria Kim
People line up to receive free face masks from a convenience store in Hong Kong, where people older than 65 were given five masks each.
(Jerome Favre / EPA/Shutterstock)
Now, surgical masks are nearly impossible to find on store shelves from Taipei to Hong Kong to Manila, prompting a panic reminiscent of wartime scarcity, with long lines and reports of hoarding, price gouging and fake products.
People have turned to social media to share creative solutions. How about a mask made of a maxi pad? Half an orange? A water bottle? Bad advice abounds. Note to self: Steaming masks to disinfect them does not work.
Some governments have organized mask lotteries. Others are rationing masks. Political leaders tour mask factories, seeking to reassure citizens that manufacturing is being ramped up. On an increasingly interconnected continent, every major Asian city has extensive business and tourism ties with China, where the deadly outbreak originated.
At their simplest, the masks are a thin, pleated layer of gauze — a few millimeters of protection from the world. Other versions, like the N95 used by healthcare workers, contain advanced carbon filters. Most people are just glad to have a mask in standard white, blue, green or black, but plaid, camouflage, heart and cartoon animal versions are also seen on the streets.
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