Indonesia seizes half a million masks amid panic buying

Indonesia's commuter train official helps a passenger to put on a mask during free protective masks distribution to the passengers following confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus disease of Covid-19 in Jakarta on March 3, 2020. - Reuters

JAKARTA (AFP): Indonesian police seized more than half a million face masks from a Jakarta-area warehouse after the country's first confirmed cases of Covid-19 sparked panic buying and sent prices for prevention products skyrocketing.

Authorities were questioning two people after the Tuesday (March 3) evening raid at a warehouse in satellite city Tangerang, where nearly 600,000 surgical masks were found.