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Luxury apparel maker Canada Goose Holdings Inc. said on Wednesday it would begin production of medical gear for healthcare workers and patients in the country to aid the battle against the coronavirus pandemic.

The Canadian company said it would make scrubs and patient gowns, which are in short supply, and will begin distributing them to local hospitals free of cost next week.

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The production will start in two of its plants in Toronto and Winnipeg, with about 50 employees per facility working towards an initial goal of manufacturing 10,000 units.

Last month, the retailer had forecast a hit to its annual profit and revenue as the outbreak in China hurt store traffic.

The forecast reflects a crisis across global luxury brands that have been investing heavily to launch more stores and beef up online presence to capitalize on the spending power of Chinese shoppers.

Canada Goose, which generates about a fifth of its revenue from Asia and sells US$1,000 parkas, operates three stores in China and sells on online marketplace Tmall.

© Thomson Reuters 2020