Indonesia – A video circulating online showed a group of workers allegedly repacking face masks illegally to be sold to a buyer. It was the unhygienic setting of the operation that sparked outrage in the online community.
On February 19, Wednesday, a video was posted on a gossip Instagram profile called Lambe Turah which revealed a room filled with unpacked face masks lying on the ground. A group of workers could be seen repacking the items, without gloves or proper personal protective equipment (PPE).
There were instances when two people walked barefoot across the face masks.
The video caption even claimed that the face masks were “used from a hospital” and discarded. According to the narrator, the items were being sorted and repackaged to be sent to a buyer named Mariana.
A mask was placed near the camera and showed that Indonesian face mask brand Solida allegedly produced it.
Watch the video below:
One comment from a certain @fransistreet noted that the netizen would cut the masks after use to avoid instances such as this. Many agreed and replied it was an excellent suggestion to implement after seeing the footage.
In response to the video, Maesindo Indonesia through its Instagram account @solida.proteksi uploaded a tour of their “real” factory in Yogyakarta. “This video is the official Solida mask factory located in Yogyakarta,” noted the caption. “It is very different from the viral videos circulating on social media lately.”
The factory tour showed a stark difference between the allegedly illegal repacking operation and the actual factory. The latter followed safe and proper protocols under sterile conditions in producing and packing face masks.
“Regarding the video that circulated on Wednesday, February 19, 2020, it was clearly not a factory/production site for the Solida brand mask,” reiterated the company at the end of the video.
Watch the video here.
South China Morning Post reported on February 16 that the prices of face masks in Indonesia had spiked nearly tenfold due to the fear of contamination by Covid-19.