Police seize 600,000 face masks from Indonesian warehouse after country’s first coronavirus case sparks panic buying and soaring prices
- Authorities in Jakarta were questioning two people after the raid on Tuesday
- Nearly half a million surgical masks were found at a warehouse in Tangerang
- If convicted of hoarding masks the perpetrators could face five years in jail
Police in Indonesia have seized 600,000 face masks from a warehouse after the country’s first coronavirus case sparked panic buying across the region.
Prices of virus prevention products have soared after the country confirmed its first case on Monday.
Authorities in the Jakarta-area were questioning two people after the Tuesday evening raid at a warehouse in the satellite city of Tangerang, where nearly half a million surgical masks were found.
Police said the owners did not have permission to distribute the masks.
600,000 masks were seized at a warehouse in the satellite city of Tangerang, prices of the protective products have soared. People are seen above arriving at the Mass Rapid Transit station in Jakarta yesterday
‘Mask prices have skyrocketed everywhere and there are shortages, most likely because hoarders are trying to make money at the public’s expense,’ Jakarta police spokesman Yusri Yunus told AFP today.
Those convicted of hoarding masks could face up to five years in jail and hefty fines, police said.
The warehouse raid came after hundreds of boxes of surgical masks were also seized Tuesday at a Jakarta apartment.
Police said they also busted a factory at the weekend allegedly making and distributing counterfeit masks that did not meet health standards, with Mr Yunus claiming the masks were ‘useless’ and ‘won’t protect people who use them’.
Jakarta and its surrounding residents have been scooping up protective equipment such as masks and hand wash
The crackdown was ordered by Indonesian president Joko Widodo who has called on citizens to avoid panic buying – even as store shelves are cleared and prices soar for masks and hand sanitisers.
Major cities including Tokyo, Hong Kong, Sydney have also seen panic buying sparked by the virus.
Indonesians, meanwhile, are scooping up a traditional herbal tonic known as jamu and in one city sellers dressed as Batman and local superhero Gundala were handing out the drink to motorists.
‘My sales have more than doubled since Monday,’ said Nur Hidayati, 29, a jamu seller in Bogor near Jakarta.
Street sellers are pictured above selling Jamu to motorists. People use the drink to stay healthy
‘People tell me they want jamu to stay healthy and immune from the virus.’
On Monday, Indonesia confirmed its first coronavirus cases, saying a 64-year-old woman and her daughter, 31, tested positive.
A Japanese woman visited family friends in the nation’s capital without realising she was infected.
The 41-year-old woman was living in Malaysia but visited Jakarta in February, where she went out dancing with a 31-year-old local woman on Valentines Day, February 14.
She began coughing the next day, and caught a flight home soon after.
The woman took herself to hospital 11 days later because the cough had not eased, and was subsequently diagnosed with coronavirus.
She phoned her family friend in Indonesia on February 28, who in turn was also tested for the deadly disease, Indonesian Health Minister Terawan Agus Putranto said on Tuesday.
So far there have been over 90,000 coronavirus cases worldwide and over 3,000 deaths.
But Indonesia – a Southeast Asian archipelago of more than 260 million – had yet to report a confirmed case until this week.
At a press conference on Monday President Joko Widodo announced the cases and has subsequently closed its doors to China.