In early February, the government put in place a policy that limits each adult to purchasing only two surgical masks per week. The goal of the rationing was to maintain a steady supply as the demand of masks has soared since the COVID-19 outbreak.
At a press conference on Monday, the economics ministry announced that the number of masks allowed per person has increased thanks to an increase in production output.
Deputy Economics Minister Wang Mei-hua announced that Taiwan is on pace to produce 9.2 million surgical masks per day, up from 6.6 million last week. The increase, she said, will allow each adult to purchase one extra mask per week, bringing to the total to three. The weekly quota for children under 13 has also been raised from four to five masks per week.
Health minister Chen Shih-chung said they are also looking to address the uneven distribution of masks in some areas, especially remote regions where access to medical resources is limited. Chen said that they have been keeping track of the sales of masks in different regions and will ship more masks to drug stores where masks are more in demand.