Adults and children can purchase 9 and 10 masks every 14 days, starting April 9. Adults and children can purchase 9 and 10 masks every 14 days, starting April 9. (CNA photo)

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan's Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said Monday (March 30) that citizens will be allowed to mail surgical masks to their first and second-degree relatives who are overseas, starting April 9.

During the daily press conference Monday, Health Minister and CECC head Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said Taiwan's daily mask production has reached 12 million units per day and is on track to rise even more. As a result, Chen said that the government has decided to update the current rationing system and distribute more masks to each citizen.

With the new rationing system, adults will be able to purchase 9 masks every 14 days by presenting their National Health Insurance (NHI) IDs at designated pharmacies and health centers. Children, age 13 and younger, will also be allowed to buy 10 masks every 14 days.

Chen said that the implementation of the new system will help solve the problem of long queues and will enable individuals to go to the stores only once every two weeks. He added that there will also be no restrictions on IDs that end in even or odd numbers, reported Now News.

In response to the many complaints from overseas Taiwanese about the lack of mask supplies in the countries they are in, the health minister said that all citizens will be permitted to send face masks to their first and second-degree relatives who are currently abroad. He said each individual is limited to sending a maximum of 30 surgical masks at a time under the new rationing system, reported New Talk.