6,000 surgical masks, worth 40,000 yen (S$507), were stolen from a hospital in Japan amidst the ongoing Covid-19 outbreak.

The masks were kept at a machine room on the third floor of the Japanese Red Cross Kobe Hospital, according to The Japan Times.

The Hyogo Prefectural Police is currently investigating the incident.

Hospital has enough masks for its staff

The Japan Times reported on Tuesday (Feb. 18) that four of the 12 boxes of masks in the machine room were found to be missing.

Each box had 30 packages, and each package contained 50 masks.

A hospital employee noticed on Thursday (Feb. 13) that the boxes were missing, and the hospital reported the incident to the police on Monday (Feb. 17).

An official said that the incident was "regrettable", although he also noted that the hospital has enough masks for its staff.

Unscrupulous mask resellers exist in Japan too

Japan may be facing surgical mask shortages, due to the growing fear of the ongoing Covid-19 outbreak.

NHK reported that a drugstore in Shibuya took delivery of 2,500 face masks on Feb. 5, selling all of them within 15 minutes.

The same report noted that many of the masks are likely to be re-sold online with a heavy markup, as surgical masks have become a sought-after commodity.

Surgical masks were being sold at between three to ten times their retail cost.

Weird crimes amidst the virus outbreak

Other peculiar crimes have occurred due to the ongoing Covid-19 outbreak.

In Hong Kong, three armed robbers made off with hundreds of toilet rolls, worth more than HK$1,000 (S$179) outside a supermarket in Mong Kok.

Supermarket runs have become common in Hong Kong, despite government assurances that supplies remain unaffected by the virus outbreak.

Apart from snapping up staples such as rice and pasta, items such as hand sanitisers and toilet paper have also become scarce in Hong Kong.

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