Makers of surgical protection wear, hospital disinfectants and hand sanitisers are dramatically scaling up production with the aid of the military to meet the urgent demand from government and health authorities as the number of coronavirus cases in Australia passes 2000.
Med-Con, a small family business that manufactures surgical face masks on the outskirts of Shepparton, Victoria, is at the vanguard of this push. The federal government has sent the army into Med-Con’s factory to help the company urgently lift production by at least 10-fold.
Angus Grigg is an investigative reporter based in Sydney. He has worked as a foreign correpondent in China and Indonesia, and has won two Walkley Awards. Connect with Angus on Twitter. Email Angus at agrigg@afr.com
