China Many masking facilities cancel the Lunar New Year holiday, raise wages for workers to ensure production.

"As far as I know, the lack of masks is much more serious than what was announced. Nearly every nurse doctor across China is short of masks, not just in Wuhan. This is very bad," Cao Jun, director of a factory in Ningbo City, eastern China, said today.

Cao said his customers are in need of 200 million masks a day, compared to the factory's output of 400,000. "We are having more than 20 people working 24/24 hours and have to pay 4 times higher than normal salary for them. The goal is to increase the output from January 27 (3rd of Lunar New Year) and reach the peak on 1 / 2 when there are enough 200 workers ", Cao revealed.

The situation is common in many Chinese mask manufacturing facilities when managers decide to work through Tet and promise to raise salaries for workers who do not return home. The root cause is pneumonia caused by a completely new strain of the corona family (nCoV) that is spreading rapidly in China, causing 600 people to become infected and 17 to die.

Many have flocked to buy masks to protect themselves, amid an epidemic that could spread when hundreds of millions of Chinese return home to celebrate Chinese New Year.

Another enterprise in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province promised to pay three times the salary for workers to return to work. "We have run out of warehouses and are extending our working hours by 4 hours, from 8 am to 21 pm daily," said Hu Qinghui, deputy general manager of this business.

Suppliers of cloth and filter masks in China have promised to give up the Tet holiday, while some American corporations have also pledged to ensure continuous supply and not to increase the price of masks.

China's Ministry of Industry yesterday launched an "emergency coordination effort," calling on local governments to work with businesses to overcome human resource difficulties during the New Year, speeding up production and resources. supply to the market.

Alibaba Technology Group said it is working with 92 manufacturers with the ability to supply 42 million masks. About 1.57 million units could be shipped by tomorrow. Some e-commerce platforms also promise to punish businesses that plan to raise masks and sterilized products.

Three Chinese cities - Wuhan, Huanggang and Ngauzhou - have blocked rail, air, long-distance buses and public transport to control the outbreak. Beijing also canceled a series of New Year events to prevent the spread of the disease.

Beijing authorities on January 20 confirmed that the virus could be transmitted from person to person. The World Health Organization (WHO) is considering declaring a state of emergency. Many major cities around the world have conducted passengers checks on flights coming from China. The disease has spread to the United States, Thailand, South Korea and Japan.

Vietnam today recorded the first case of pneumonia when the Chinese father and son treated at Cho Ray Hospital were positive for the nCoV virus.