The first mask production line in South China's island province of Hainan went into operation Friday in Haikou, the provincial capital, officials said at a press conference.
The factory operated by the Honz Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd now produces 40,000 surgical masks per day. All the masks will be allocated by government, with priority given to the needs of doctors, nurses and other personnel directly involved in the prevention and control of the COVID-19 epidemic, said Wang Lei, the vice mayor of Haikou.
As China battles the epidemic, masks have been in great demand by medical workers, disease control personnel as well as the general public.
With the help of the municipal government, the company purchased the mask production equipment from Dongguan City, Guangdong Province.
The equipment arrived at the factory on Feb. 7 and was ready for production by Feb. 8 night. On Feb. 13 night, it received the production license from the provincial medical products administration.
The factory plans to add a production line for N95 masks in mid-March.
Hainan had reported 157 confirmed cases and four deaths as of Thursday. Thirty patients had been discharged from hospitals.
