Unrationed surgical masks are set to be sold to cosmetic and convenience stores in Taiwan starting this week. Since the COVID-19 outbreak began, Taiwan has been rationing the masks and making them available through pharmacies, convenience stores and online orders.
The new products will not be rationed and will cost between NT$5 (16 US cents) to NT$15 (50 US cents). They can be bought in packages and boxes of 50.
Some hypermarts such as Carrefour and A.mart started selling surgical masks on Monday while Watsons, Cosmed, and Poya will begin selling them this week as well.
Since the COVID-19 outbreak, Taiwan’s daily production of masks has gone from 1.88 million to about 20 million per day. On June 1, requisition orders were relaxed. The government will continue to receive 8 million masks per day while sales and export restrictions have been lifted on the remaining 60 percent of masks produced.