TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Trade Ministry will temporarily suspend the export of face masks amid escalating fears of the spread of the coronavirus. The decision is aimed at preventing the possible scarcity of face masks following the country’s confirmed cases of COVID-19.

“We will also issue a temporary ban on mask products to assure [we meet] our domestic needs,” Trade Minister Agus Suparmanto told a press conference at the Coordinating Economic Ministry building in Jakarta on Friday, March 13, 2020.

Agus said the temporary ban on the export of masks sought to safeguard the country’s domestic mask supplies as the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 as a global pandemic as of Wednesday, March 11, 2020.

Agus said the suspension would be effective until it had been confirmed that the country’s mask supplies could meet domestic demands. “We will lift the ban when the supplies show a surplus,” he said.

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country has reached 34 to date. The government’s spokesman for the COVID-19 outbreak, Achmad Yurianto, said three positive patients had fully recovered following their negative test results.

Earlier, State-owned Enterprises (BUMN) Minister Erick Thohir said several state companies were set to produce a total of 6 million face masks as of April 2020. “Only from BUMN, 6 million, we still have the raw material. Erick, however, did not specify which state companies that would produce the masks.

Eko Wahyudi | Fajar Pebrianto | Galuh Kurnia Ramadhani (Intern Translator)