品不足のマスク、自ら作り始めた香港市民　機械輸入し製造ライン造った人も

【香港ＡＦＰ＝時事】新型コロナウイルスの感染拡大でマスク不足が続いている中、香港ではマスクを自分で作る人が現れている。手作りだけではなく、製造ラインを設置した人もいる。（写真は香港で販売されている、パターン柄の素材で作られたマスク）
　湾仔地区で手作りのマスクを着用して買い物をしていたジュディさんという７３歳の女性は、「ハンカチと不織布があったので、それらを組み合わせ、あとは上部に付けるワイヤとゴムを使った」とＡＦＰに話した。
　香港経済は低迷しているが、労働階級が暮らす深水ホ地区の生地の店や仕立屋が多く集まる通りは活況に沸いている。
　絶え間ないミシンの音が聞こえる通りには、狭い店先につり下げられたさまざまな色の布製マスクがずらりと並ぶ。
　仕立て職人のエレース・ウォンさんは、自身が考案したマスクの縫い方を人々に無料で教えていると話した。「マスクを買うことができない人もいる。自分で作ることができれば素晴らしい」とウォンさんは言う。
　品薄状態が続き、政府も価格統制や配給に動いていないため、マスクの価格は高騰している。マカオや台湾も同じ状況だ。
　簡素な医療用マスクは、高いもので５０枚入りが３００香港ドル（約４３００円）で売られている。医療用で高性能のＮ９５規格は、１箱１８００香港ドル（約２万６０００円）ほどで出回っている。
　映画制作者のトンさんは今週、工業ビルの中に設けたマスクの製造ラインの最終調整を行った。
　「マスクの価格に衝撃を受けた」とトンさんはＡＦＰに語った。「調べてみると、マスクの製造はそれほど難しくないことが分かった。価格がこれほど高くなるのは、香港に製造ラインがないからだ」
　トンさんは、ある投資家からの支援も受けてインドから製造機械を輸入。さらに多くの機械を取り寄せる予定だ。
　現在はテスト段階だが、クリーンルームに設置した機械で２２日から１分当たり６０～８０枚の医療用マスクを製造できる見通しだ。トンさんによれば、マスクは１枚１～２香港ドル（約１４～２９円）でネット販売し、購入は１人１箱に限定するという。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2020/02/25-12:49）

With chronic face mask shortages in the midst of a virus outbreak, Hong Kongers have started making their own -- with a pop-up production line and seamstresses churning them out on sewing machines.
In one of the most densely populated cities on earth, face masks have become hot property as people scramble for protection against the new deadly coronavirus.
Long queues -- sometimes thousands strong -- routinely crop up outside pharmacies when supplies are in, and there is anger at the government's failure to have stockpiled.
Some are turning to DIY solutions -- albeit of questionable quality.
Judy, a 73-year-old out shopping in the district of Wanchai, was spotted in a homemade mask.
I found the material -- my handkerchief, and some non-woven fabric -- and I combined them and used some wire for the top, and some elastic, she told AFP, declining to give her surname.
While Hong Kong's economy reels, business has been brisk on one street in the working-class Sham Shui Po district that boasts many fabric and tailoring shops.
A colourful array of cloth masks hangs outside many of the cramped storefronts as shoppers haggle over the din of whirring sewing machines.
Elase Wong, a tailor, said she was giving away her face mask sewing design.
Some people couldn't buy any masks... So if they can make them themselves, that would be great, she told AFP.
I hope everyone can achieve self-sufficiency.
- Pop-up assembly line -
The cost of masks has skyrocketed with scarcity and the government resisting price controls or rationing, as in nearby Macau and Taiwan.
A set of 50 simple surgical masks can sell for up to HK$300 ($40), while the top of the range N95 variety is going for as high as HK$1,800 a box.
A film director surnamed Tong was this week putting the finishing touches to a face mask assembly line in an industrial building.
I was shocked by the price of face masks, he told AFP.
I did some research and realised that masks are not that difficult to make. Why do people have to bear such a high cost? Because there is no production line in Hong Kong.
With the help of an investor he managed to import a machine from India, and plans to ship more.
Currently in the testing phase, the device will produce 60-80 surgical masks per minute from Saturday in a dust-free room.
Tong said the masks will be sold online for HK$1-2 each, limited to one box per person.
The administration of chief executive Carrie Lam says it is doing all it can to secure new supplies of face masks amid a global shortage.
Output has been ramped up on a prison labour production line and there are plans to set aside HK$1.5 billion to support the creation of domestic factories.
The lack of stockpiles has sparked criticism of Lam, even from among her pro-Beijing political allies.
Many have expressed surprise that a city which suffered 299 deaths during the 2003 SARS outbreak was not better prepared.
Since SARS, which Beijing initially covered up, Hong Kongers have embraced higher communal hygiene standards and face masks have long been a common sight, especially during the winter flu season.
Joseph Kwan, a public health expert from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, said widespread mask use during SARS also lowered cases of the common cold that year.
In a tightly packed city like Hong Kong, new viruses will spread like wildfire if nobody wears a mask, he said.
It would be a public health disaster.