01 February 2020•Update: 02 February 2020
ANKARA
Chinese firms have resumed producing protective face masks to meet domestic demand, even as factories across China had been closed down to limit the spreading novel coronavirus outbreak amid an ongoing quarantine campaign, according to local media.
Manufacturing facilities began churning out medical equipment and supplies, Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday.
China is one of the world's biggest protective medical mask producers, but has lately been hard pressed to meet domestic demand.
"Everybody is wearing masks, from medical staff to ordinary people, and the masks are disposed of every day, so the demand for masks has exploded, causing the temporary shortage," Xinhua quoted Li Lingshen, head of the China Nonwoven and Industrial Textiles Association, as saying.
A total of 136 companies producing medical equipment are located in China's eastern Jiangxi province.
With more than 60,000 people involved in production and sales, at least 30 firms have continued to operate in the last two days.
"The government is providing the maximum level of support in the purchase of raw materials and subsidies," said Chen Jian, who heads county department of science, industry, and information technology, Beijing-based Xinhua reported.
According to China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, China produces a daily eight million masks, while overseas purchases also continue.
Jinxian County's government in Jiangxi province has invested around $507,000 to help companies buy medical materials.
China has put in orders for a total of 200 million protective face masks from Turkish medical firms in one go.
The coronavirus, so named because under the microscope it resembles a crown, has killed at least 259 people in China, with nearly 12,000 infected. More than 118,000 people are under medical observation.
Since its outbreak late last year, China has put Wuhan under lockdown in a bid to contain the virus and is building a 1,000-bed hospital to treat those affected.
Beyond China, the virus has spread to Japan, South Korea, Thailand, the U.S., Singapore, France, Vietnam, and Canada.
Travelers from China are being screened for the virus at airports worldwide. Several airlines have suspended flights to Wuhan.
