BEIJING/SHANGHAI -- Chinese language electrified automobile maker BYD mentioned on Friday it's making 5 million masks a day to combat the coronavirus pandemic that has killed almost 3,200 folks in China.

The Shenzhen-based automaker, which is backed by U.S. investor Warren Buffett, mentioned in a press release it began work on constructing a brand new masks manufacturing line in late January. BYD additionally produces round 300,000 bottles of hand sanitizers a day, it mentioned.

BYD, which additionally produces EV batteries, mentioned it's going to give masks to its staff to make sure regular manufacturing and can provide the remaining to folks in Hubei, the epicenter of the coronavirus, and to hospitals and the general public transport sector.

Greater than 134,500 folks have been contaminated globally by the coronavirus and greater than 4,900 have died, in response to a Reuters tally of presidency bulletins. The full variety of circumstances in mainland China is 80,813.

As factories in China begin to resume work, quite a lot of Chinese language producers, together with a subsidiary of...