The announcement on Monday came after the recent panic buying of various cold medicine. The government spokesman urged the public to avoid stockpiling the relevant medication and no need to panic buying a certain brand of medicine.

Authorities had always been monitoring the supply of paracetamol medicines, the spokesman added. Seeing the demand for such medication rising within a short period, the Department of Health has undertaken different measures, such as dispatching inspectors to check the sales and storage of relevant medicines at the pharmacies.

The authorities are also prompting the pharmacies to inform customers what other brands of drugs contain paracetamol they could choose to buy, if particular medicines are out of stock.

In addition, the Department of Health also calls upon the local pharmaceutical manufacturing associations to increase the speed of production of medicines with paracetamol to meet market demands.

The government stressed that the supply of paracetamol medication is sufficient at the hospitals, with the current stock level being enough for normal daily use for 5 to 6 months. And the authorities are planning to purchase more relevant medication to bolster the existing reserves.

Depending on the situation and the necessity, the spokesman added the government could hand out extra supplies of purchased medication to citizens who need it but have not received public healthcare services, such as people who cannot afford the medication or are not able to buy the medicines due to regional shortages.