Across Asia, countries race to boost face mask supplies

An Iraqi worker showing protective face mask following the coronavirus outbreak before she starts work at a textile factory in Babylon, Iraq. Across Asia, the spread of the coronavirus has sparked a run on masks in the hardest hit countries, as well as among those afraid that they could be next. - Reuters

ICHEON: At a face mask factory just outside the South Korean capital of Seoul, workers are churning out 300,000 masks a day - and it's still not enough.

Last year the Icheon Production Centre CNTUS-Sungjin Co Ltd. manufactured 30 million face masks. Amid this year's coronavirus outbreak, it has produced 19 million in January and February alone.