The government plans to prohibit the resale of surgical masks in a bid to tackle the shortage of masks sparked by the spread of the new coronavirus.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced the plan at a meeting of the government's coronavirus task force on Thursday.
The government will revise an ordinance of the Emergency Measures for Stabilizing Living Conditions of the Public Law, and incorporate the new measures in a second package to urgently combat the coronavirus due to be compiled Tuesday.
Abe said purchases of surgical masks for the purpose of reselling them "had spurred mask shortages," and he indicated the government would push ahead with procedures for a new ordinance based on the aforementioned law.
The law was enacted in 1973 in response to the oil shock, which sparked a period of panic buying. To cope with soaring price rises and other extraordinary circumstances affecting the economy, the law stipulates that the government can designate essential goods that have a major effect on the public's living conditions and impose restrictions on their sales. Violators of this law can be punished.
The government will designate face masks as such a good under a new ordinance and basically prohibit their resales online. This ban will come into force this month.
In a related move, the government will purchase 20 million cloth masks that can be reused. Abe said the government will drastically increase the supply of masks to places that urgently need them, such as medical facilities. The prime minister explained that at least one mask would be distributed to each person at places such as nursing care facilities, facilities for the disabled and child care facilities.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
