KITAMI, Hokkaido -- Households in two Hokkaido municipalities began receiving face masks supplied by the government on Thursday.
The government decided to distribute about 40 masks per household and to start distribution in the city of Kitami and the town of Nakafurano, where the rate of people infected with the new coronavirus is higher than other places in Hokkaido.
Yet only seven masks per household were distributed on Thursday. According to the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, it was impossible to secure more due to a supply shortage. The rest of the masks will be delivered as soon as the government can secure them.
In Kitami, the masks were sorted by address at the city's main post office, and letter carriers on motorbikes put a bag of seven masks in each household's mailbox.
"I couldn't buy masks and made do with a handmade alternative I made with gauze and an elastic cord. Even just seven masks are great because I live alone with my husband," said a 55-year-old part-time worker in Kitami after receiving the masks.
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