(Reuters) - Alibaba’s Taobao marketplace said on Sunday that it has removed sales of face masks from shops that show “unstable prices or false advertising”, as prices for the products surged as Chinese consumers race to protect themselves from the coronavirus outbreak.

The newly identified coronavirus has created alarm because much about it is still unknown, such as how dangerous it is and how easily it spreads between people. It can cause pneumonia, which has been deadly in some cases.