Sixth round of mask distribution starts today

The sixth round of the sale of masks organized by the government begins today and will be conducted in exactly the same manner as the previous sale, according to the information disclosed yesterday by the Coordinator of the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordinator Center, Leong Iek Hou.

The face masks will be available at the 84 accredited pharmacies that have participated in the previous rounds.

Batches of 10 adult size masks or five adult size masks and five children-size masks will be available to all residents and non-resident workers.

As on previous occasions, Leong remarked on the non-necessity of rushing to acquire the products, requesting the collaboration of all citizens for a smooth and ordered process.

Asked about the existing stock of children-sized masks, the director of the Health Bureau (SSM) Lei Chin Ion revealed that the government had acquired a total of 1 million masks, roughly 100,000 of which were sold in the previous distribution round.

Lei suggested that parents should “reduce as much as possible […] outings from the house now, so they can stock up masks [for children] for when the classes resume.” Yet the official also added that the government will ensure that “all children will have a mask per day when the schools restart.”

The director also revealed that the original intention of the Center was only to authorize the reopening of the schools after the epidemic was considered finished, “but since it is at the moment impossible to predict when will that happen, we had to decide [on a date] for the classes to restart at a moment in time that we consider it safe to do so.”

Lei added that although the government has identified April 20 as the date for school resumption, it has not yet ruled out the possibility of such a date changing if the epidemic situation requires it. RM