Malaysia – Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing, the president of the Progressive Democratic Party (PDP), has urged the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs and the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industries to focus on resolving Sarawak’s current chicken and egg market shortage. These are essential and daily necessities for people and their livelihoods, according to the Bintulu MP …

The government has ordered textile firms to speedily produce 30 million pieces of washable cloth face masks in the next month to give away in Bangkok metropolitan areas to combat chronic shortages. The Industry Ministry acknowledged that textile firms should be able to produce 10 million cloth masks in one month based on their production capacity. The ministry expects to …

The team will check shops and scrutinise the whole supply chain to detect whether and where the masks are being hoarded. The shops will be asked where they ordered their masks and if they received them. If the factories delivered fewer than ordered, the factories would have to explain, said the premier. Gen Prayut said more than a million masks …

Shoppers in Greater Bangkok are quickly emptying supermarket shelves of long-lasting items like instant noodles, packed rice, tissue paper, tinned fish and drinking water as fears mount over the coronavirus epidemic. Large retail operators including Tops Supermarket, Tesco Lotus, The Mall Group and Big C Supercenter acknowledged that these items have been snapped up quickly since the weekend. They are …

Countries scrambled to secure their mask supply as panic buying, hoarding and robbery spread over fears of the deadly coronavirus outbreak on Wednesday, with global health officials warning that protective gear stocks were rapidly dwindling. The disease that first emerged in China occurs almost daily in new countries, with Iran, Italy and South Korea facing increasing numbers. Italy’s death toll …

Public complaints grew louder on Monday over the continuing lack of masks on the back of heightened concerns over the spread of Covid-19, which claimed the life of the 35-year-old man on Saturday night — the first reported death from the virus in the country. People are crying foul over the shortage of masks amid the novel coronavirus outbreak, triggered by …

Mr Anutin took to Facebook to say sorry after he criticised farang, the Thai word for “Westerners”, suggesting they had put the general public at risk amid the coronavirus outbreak and should be deported. Government efforts to solve the shortage and high prices of face masks took a hit on Friday after Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul had to apologise for saying …

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha’s confirmed about the availability of surgical face masks, some pharmacies and convenience stores in two Bangkok districts were found to be running short on supplies. Only a few face masks were available in Lat Phrao’s Chok Chai 4 area. A large sign declaring “face masks and alcohol-based hand sanitisers are out of stock” was also seen …