Manufacture of surgical masks to speed up as panic buying continues due to new coronavirus virus fears

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/02/01
By: Sophia Yang, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — As the Wuhan coronavirus epidemic continues to escalate around the world, Taiwan Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) has decided to speed up production of surgical and N95 masks to 10 million a day in five weeks.

Despite the announcement of a month-long export ban on surgical and N95 masks and the fact that local mask manufacturers can produce 4 million units a day, panic buying has still occurred in the country of 23 million people.

CNA reported the Executive Yuan has passed a special budget of NT$200 million (US$6.6 million) to help manufacturers build up capacity quickly. This is in anticipation of a drastic increase in demand for surgical and N95 respirator masks due to the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak.

Minister of Economic Affairs (MOEA) Shen Jong-Chin (沈榮津) has visited manufacturers to hammer out plans to speed up production. This will include procuring new equipment.
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