Coronavirus outbreak: China's daily mask output reaches 116 mn units

China's daily output of face masks has reached 116 million units, 12 times more than the figure reported on February 1, as production continued amid the coronavirus outbreak, official data revealed on Monday.

By the end of last month, the daily production capacity more than quintupled from February 1 to 110 million units that came in medical and non-medical calibers, Xinhua news agency quoted the National Development and Reform Commission as saying.

The consistent rise in both capacity and output further narrowed the supply deficit.

As of February 29, the daily output of N95-rated medical masks reached 1116 million units to ensure medical staff at the forefront of the battle against the novel coronavirus are well-equipped, the commission said.

China produces about half of the world's masks with a daily output of 20 million units before the epidemic.

The country had to launch massive production expansion to secure supply given the explosive growth in demand due to the outbreak that has so far killed 2,912 in the mainland.

In south China'sGuangdong province, Guangzhou Xingshi Equipments Co., Ltd, a manufacturer of diapers and sanitary napkins, converted one of its lines for fully-automated mask production.

With a capacity of assembling 1,000 medical masks per minute, or 1.4 million per day running non-stop, the ultra-fast line is believed to be among the world's fastest, according to local authorities.

Meanwhile, since January 24, China's armed forces have dispatched over 4,000 medical professionals in three groups to Wuhan, the epicentre of the COVID-19 outbreak.

The first group of 450 people left for Wuhan on January 24, the Chinese New Year's Eve, while the second group of 950 persons left on February 2, and the third group of 2,600 personnel left on February 13, a health division official said on Monday.

In addition, more than 160 people and 130 vehicles have been dispatched from the armed forces stationed in Hubei province to assist with transportation of supplies for the epidemic prevention and control.

( With inputs from IANS )