Government Intervention to Facial Mask Forcovid-19 and Its Impact

Abstract

Making government control the producing of personal protective equipment, especially facial masks, is one of the keys to confronting the shock during the pandemic of COVID-19 in China. Attribute to the high-infectivity of pneumonia, the demand of facial mask had dramatically increased. I conduct a theorical model to analyze the reason why the supply will not satisfy the demand in short run without government regulation, using utility change due to panic and elasticity of facial mask. Since intervention of central govern- ment, the concern of overcapacity and hazard of intended hoarding had been eliminated, masks were allocated efficiently. More chances of international trade would be brought in both short and long run.