Medical mask scarcity after the new coronavirus outbreak in rural China 2020
The spread of the coronavirus COVID-19, first detected in early December 2019 in Wuhan, China, has increased the demand of surgical masks and triggered scrambles for medical products. According to a survey on the epidemic impact on rural China in late January 2020, a majority of the respondents said face masks had become in shortage in their towns or villages. About one third of the respondents could still buy face masks.