Egypt has started offering reusable cotton face masks at around $50 cents each alongside the food items provided in its state subsidy programme, as it seeks to make protective gear more widely available to curb the coronavirus, according to Reuters.

“There was [an opportunity] to use supply outlets and the presence of supply cards with 22 million families to offer the masks,” said supply ministry spokesman Ahmed Kamal.

“At 8.5 Egyptian pounds per mask, the price is very accessible for the public [...] private companies sell similar masks for between 15 and 20 pounds,” he said, adding that authorities aim to distribute 19 million masks by the end of July.