PETALING JAYA: Putrajaya has been urged to come down hard on middlemen who hog face masks and other personal protective equipment as the country battles the spread of the Covid-19 virus, with doctors saying they have received calls from frontliners appealing for such gear amid reports of a shortage even within the medical fraternity.

Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said today the government had agreed to lower the price ceiling for face masks to RM2.Consumers Association of Subang and Shah Alam, Selangor president Jacob George however said face masks are currently going for RM2 to RM5 each, adding that even so, they are difficult to find on the market.

Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations secretary-general Paul Selvaraj agreed, saying face masks are nearly impossible to find.“Most convenience stores require customers to wear masks before entering, but there are no masks,” he told FMT.George meanwhile said he had spoken to “deep throats” in the industry who admitted to hogging goods during festive seasons.“This is the game plan,” he told FMT. “It’s not a state secret.”

Claiming that the government was aware of such people, he said “they should be calling them”.Paediatricians Dr Zulkifli Ismail and Dr Musa Mohd Nordin said they had received multiple messages from colleagues at public hospitals across the country appealing for personal protective equipment.“These are public doctors working at the frontline of the Covid-19 outbreak,” they said in a statement.

They added that while bigger hospitals such as Sungai Buloh might have enough supply, the same could not be said for others including private medical centres.“We have received SOS messages for N95 masks, face shields, air purifying respirators, hood covers and boot covers,” they said.They also expressed disappointment over videos of health ministry staff making their own equipment using plastic bags, dustbin liners and other items, saying such measures reflect badly on the ministry.

In Selangor alone, they said, there are at least three plants which manufacture such gear.“Why have we not heard from these companies?”Mohd Zarif Mohd Hashim, the CEO of Sapura Secured Technologies, said Malaysia was capable of producing personal protective equipment locally.“We have tremendous resources at our disposal,” he told FMT.“We just need to coordinate our actions and the supply chain.”

George meanwhile suggested that the government set up a special team, similar to what was done during the SARS outbreak in 2003.Then-health director-general Ismail Merican had led the team to help control the situation, he said.“Now there are so many statements and so many politicians speaking,” he said, adding that these sometimes contradict each other, leading to more confusion.