Assume you have been asked by an economic consulting firm to analyze an issue and recommend a position on the issue. Select a news article dated within the previous two months, and analyze the issue...

Economics behind the price of face mask at the time of coronavirus outbreak:
Introduction
The fast worldwide spread of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and the associated COVID-19 illness has led to urgent measures to curb transmission and ameliorate it, leading to a major and widespread economic disruption1. More than 10 million cases were recorded globe-wide by July 2020, with more than 500,000 fatalities, with most regions of the world ongoing2. In many people it can cause serious or life-threatening conditions in an immune-compromised person and in older persons with a fatal rarity in the latter group of more than 10%, although it is usually asymptomatic and associated with minor symptoms.
The fast spread of the Virus has generated worries over the lack of resources in healthcare systems and will not be able to cope with the burden of accommodating COVID-19 patients, which lead to dramatically increased morbidity and death. The efficacy of possible treatments to prevent the development of this illness must be further understood urgently, particularly as regards budget constraints.
Spread of coronavirus and its effect:
Many nations have implemented international and domestic travel limitations, shuttered schools and non-essential enterprises and tightly regulated public meetings to minimize infection load. These methods are meant to reduce personal exposures, decreasing the effective number of reproductive diseases and hence the epidemic's growth rate. In addition, individual comportments such as social distance, self-isolation, symptomatic surfaces, washing and hand disinfectation might minimize the spread further. Interventions like this can provide protection (infection risk reduction) for vulnerable people, and/or containment (reduction in transmission risk).
Although these actions are generally supported by governments and ministries of public health, there is minimal worldwide consensus that face masks may be used by the general population, whether they are operational masks or basic reusable. The use of surgical masks as a measure to control infection is common in East and South East Asia and early in the pandemic has been recommended for healthy people in public crowded areas by governments in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, whereas symptom masks are also advised for people in Japan and Singapore.  The usage of self-reported masks ranges substantially from one nations to another
Some nations have witnessed huge demand from the public for face masks, where supply and shortages have been decreased. The United States reported mask deficiencies among health professionals, even after demand was reduced. In recognition of the necessity of masks, the export of face masks was forbidden by numerous nations, and the Central Epidemic Command Center in Taiwan in January attempted to boost mask manufacturing. Faced with this lack of resources it is important to make efficient use of restricted materials. Clearly, the safety of healthcare workers is of crucial importance, but it is possible to optimize the allocation of additional resources to the general populace. In this study we focus on how demand affects the price of masks.
Mask Market
It is expected that the market for face masks would...