In a bid to address a shortage of surgical masks amid the increasing Covid-19 fears, the Lalitpur Metropolitan City is set to manufacture cloth masks in all of its 29 wards and distribute to each household at a minimal cost, beginning Friday.

People in the City can purchase the cloth masks made up of pure cotton in a price range of Rs5 to Rs7.

With the threat of the latest coronavirus viral strain looming, the City is the first local body in the country to take the initiative to manufacture face masks. In the first phase, the City plans to distribute masks to 100,000 households, which is the total number of houses in its metropolitan area, according to its spokesperson Raju Maharjan.

On Wednesday, 30 women from Wards 1 to 15 were given mask-making training at the City’s Social Welfare Council office in Pulchowk, while the training in the remaining wards will be held on Thursday.

“Each ward will start manufacturing the masks from Friday,” said Maharjan.

Last week, after a shortage of surgical masks was reported, Patan and Civil Service hospitals started making cloth masks for the hospitals’ staff.

Having set a target of producing 10,000 masks a day, the City has already launched a two-day sewing and tailoring training for 58 women under the City’s Social Welfare Council.

Since the outbreak of Covid-19, in December last year, countries like China and India, on which Nepal relies heavily on protective gear such as face masks, gloves, and caps, have prohibited their exports.

“We want to raise awareness among people. This will also help check on the black marketeering of face masks. The shopkeepers are overcharging gullible people when the threat of such a communicable disease is looming,” said Mayor Chiri Babu Maharjan.

On Wednesday, when the Post visited various medical shops to inquire about the masks, none of the pharmacies and surgical shops had surgical masks to sell. There has been a shortage of face masks for the past two weeks, shop owners said. However, some errant shopkeepers are selling surgical masks at high prices.

This week, the Department of Commerce, Supplies and Consumer Protection Management fined Rs200,000 each to four errant stores—Bidya Alka Pharmacy Unit (1), Pulchowk; Gautam Pharmacy and Diagnostic Centre, Pulchowk; Sadikshya Medical Hall, Jawalakhel and Shuva Surgical Suppliers, Kupondol, under the Consumer Protection Act 2018. Those pharmacies were found selling surgical masks for Rs150 apiece.

“I paid Rs70 for a piece of face mask which at other times would cost Rs10. The initiative taken by the metropolitan city is praiseworthy. This will make people feel relieved,” said Sangita Timilsena, 27, from Dholahiti, Lalitpur.

At a City’s board meeting on Tuesday, the City plans to sell the cloth mask for Rs5 to Rs7 apiece, much less than the cost price of Rs17. The City plans to use funds from its Disaster Risk Reduction Centre to subsidise the cost of the face masks. The City has formed such centres in each ward.

Dinesh Karki, coordinator at the Social Development Committee under the City, said the money collected from selling masks will be used for the production of cloth masks, made up of cotton cloth manufactured within the country.

Sunita Shrestha, 40, designer of the cloth face masks, said she had trained nearly three dozen women to sew the masks.

“It’s not a difficult job, and those who came for the training were very happy to learn the skills to make face masks at the time of a crisis,” said Shrestha.

The World Health Organization suggests wearing face masks if anyone around them is coughing or sneezing. They are effective only when hands are cleaned frequently with soap and water or with alcohol-based hand sanitizers.

However, some media reports have said face masks are not an iron-clad guarantee for preventing Covid-19 infections.