The Macau government has bought 20 million masks for its population as part of its efforts to combat the novel coronavirus outbreak in the Chinese Special Administrative Region.
Measure put in place after complaints
The order was made a day after the city, populated by about 623,000 residents, had its first confirmed case, South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported.
Sale of the masks started from Jan. 24 at about 50 pharmacies, helping to make up for a shortage of supply in half of the city's pharmacies, according to Macau Daily Times.
Information released by the Health Bureau revealed that only one out of eight distributors in Macau still had face masks available on Jan. 22.
The announcement of the fixed-price sale was made shortly after Macau residents took to social media to complain about the price hikes for masks undertaken by a number of stores, with local media reporting an increase of as much as five times the usual price.
Limited to 10 masks per person
Sale of the additional supply of masks is only open to Macau residents, with each Macau identification card allowing the holder to buy up to 10 masks at a time.
The 10 masks cost 8 patacas (S$1.37).
Once a purchase was made, the same identification card could only be used for a second purchase 10 days later.
Non-residents can buy masks at fixed price at other pharmacies as well.
According to Macau News, the city will be starting its second round of the fixed-price sale on Sunday, Feb. 2.
Screengrab via HK01 video
As compared to Hong Kong, where hundreds of desperate residents queued up to try to get their hands on masks that were reported to be in short supply, residents in Macau remained relatively calm about the situation.
The Macau government's handling of the public health crisis was seen by Hong Kong residents as being much faster and smoother as compared to the response of the Hong Kong authorities.
Top image via Sing Tao Daily