BEIJING: Chinese face mask manufacturers are reopening factories shut for a national holiday, promising workers up to four times their normal wages as consumers emptied out stock in stores in a race to protect themselves from the new coronavirus infection.
The flu-like virus, which has killed 17 and infected nearly 600, is expected to spread further as hundreds of millions of Chinese travel domestically and abroad during the week-long Lunar New Year holiday, a time when factories across China usually close.
Worried about the potential for a global pandemic, China is putting Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak and a city of 11 million, on lockdown. The decision was praised by the World Health Organisation as a strong one that could limit contagion but has also heightened fears about the virus.
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