SEOUL, April 20 (Korea Bizwire) — Protective masks, which were once in high demand following the coronavirus outbreak, are recovering to pre-coronavirus levels of supply.
According to ‘Mask Notifier’, an app that shows the current stock of protective masks available at drug stores, 77.6 percent of pharmacies nationwide had more than 100 protective masks in stock as of April 16.
Experts argue that the government’s effort to increase the supply of masks has paid off.
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety reported that as of April 16, approximately 8.9 million masks had been supplied through public channels, up by 77 percent since February 28, the first day of public supply of protective masks (5 million masks).
“Mask prices, once reaching as high as 5,000 won (US$4.10) online, have stabilized around the 1,800 won threshold,” Statistics Korea said.
Image Credit: Yonhap / photonews@koreabizwire.com
