Guangzhou has doubled the number of masks supplied from about 1 million per day to 3 million per day on Suikang (穗康) from March 7th. Residents will be able to order surgeon's masks and medical nursing masks as well as ordinary masks and KN 95 masks through the app.

The Guangzhou Municipal Government joined hands with Tencent and Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Holdings Limited (GPHL), a leading medical manufacturer, and launched an online mask-booking app, Suikang ( search “穗康” on WeChat) as a response to the outbreak of COVID-19.

Suikang allows input in four languages (Screenshot of Suikang)

Since its launch on January 31st, the app has experienced three updates based on user feedback. The app now allows registration with a passport number and input in English, Japanese and Korean for the health declaration. It has also now features English instructions for mask ordering.

In addition, the third version adopted a lottery mode, which allows residents to make a reservation at anytime of day. The reservation is valid for ten-days of mask lotteries, so that access to masks will no longer be a competition of WIFI speed.

Residents can choose if they want to pick up the masks at designated drugstores or have them delivered to their homes. Either way, payment must be completed within 24 hours if you win the lottery. You can check the outcome every day at through the ‘My Reservation (我的预约)’ tab.

More than 7.8 million people participated in the mask lottery from February 17th to March 6th, of which more than 3.4 million won the lottery. More than 27.6 million masks have been distributed during this period.

To celebrate the International Women’s Day, on March 7th GPHL randomly selected 3800 women who had made reservations on Suikang, and sent them 10 masks per person for free. The company will inform the lucky ones via SMS and offer free delivery service. GPHL will conduct similar mask giveaways for the elderly in the future.

GPHL transforming factories to make masks

As the operator of Suikang, GPHL has been purchasing masks from various sources to meet demand. To ease the shortage of masks, Baiyunshan Yihu Health and Technology, a subsidiary of GPHL, has also started transform factories to produce masks, taking advantage of group’s manufacturing resources.

The company is now producing ordinary masks that are of great demand and will extend its production line to KN95 masks and protective suits based on the business environment.