Putrajaya will fix the ceiling price of face mask tomorrow as the current RM2 is expensive, said senior minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
In today’s press conference in Putrajaya, he said Malaysia will be receiving 10 million face masks from China.
“We will fix the ceiling price of face masks as RM2 is very high. The prime minister has also expressed the same sentiment.
“There is no reason for sellers to increase prices as the government has agreed to slash import duty. Tomorrow, the government will discuss the price of face masks,” said Ismail Sabri, who is also defence minister.
“We have also ordered 10 million face masks from China. It will be sent to the front liners, then security personnel before it can be sent to other sectors.”
Yesterday, Works Minister Fadillah Yusof said the government is looking to obtain 10 million face masks from China due to the lack of supplies in the country.
Fadillah had said the face mask supplies would be coordinated by the Transport Ministry, together with an airline company.
The National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) will be in charge of the supplies.
He had said if there were extra face masks, it would be distributed in the market.
As the authorities ramped up effort to contain the spread of the deadly Covid 19, a medical doctor today became the country’s first healthcare provider to succumb to the deadly coronavirus.
The current death toll stands at nine, said Health Director-General Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.
As of noon yesterday, there were 1,183 cases of infections reported in Malaysia.
Worldwide, a total of 275,577 cases have been reported with the death toll surpassing 12,000. – TMI