Gallery: Large shipment of protective equipment arrived in Estonia
On Sunday, a plane from Russia landed at Tallinn Airport with three million protective masks in cooperation with Magnum and Semetron.
Most of the arrived protective masks will be sent to pharmacies in the middle of the new week, the pharmaceutical wholesaler Magnum announced.
Ahti Kallikormi, Chairman of the Management Board of Magnum AS, said they will not be able to be purchased remuneration on Monday. "The protective masks will arrive at pharmacies on Tuesday or on Wednesday, April 8."
Due to the global demand, it is difficult to order personal protective equipment from China, but according to Martin Minin, a member of Semetron's board, this batch is certainly not the last.
However, he reminds people to buy the equipment in reasonable quantities. "We hope that from Monday, April 6, we will be able to open the customs procedures, then begin to sell them in a few days. There was also a great wish from Jaak Aab, the head of our country's crisis committee, to not stockpile but to buy the equipment for only your family. In a week or two, there should definitely be new ones. Fortunately, we are not the only suppliers," Minin told ETV current affairs show "Aktuaalne kaamera" on Sunday.
The Health Board also advises people not to start buying protective masks, but to plan their use according to the visits to crowded places.
"An infected person may be infected one to two days before the symptoms occur. Wearing a mask will help to not spread the virus unknowingly," Martin Kadai, Head of the Emergency Medicine Department of the Health Board explained but said expert opinion was split on whether they are much use for a healthy person.
One person can buy a maximum of one package consisting of 50 masks in order for there to be enough protective masks for everybody, Magnum added in a press release. The recommended retail price of one mask for this batch is less than 70 cents, although it is up to each pharmacy to decide on pricing.
In total, the companies brought 3 million protective masks from China to Estonia with the help of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
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Editor: Roberta Vaino