FILE PHOTO: Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp Chief Executive Masayoshi Son attends a news conference in Tokyo, Japan, November 5, 2018. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File Photo
TOKYO (Reuters) – SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son on Thursday tweeted an offer to donate a million free face masks to help fight the coronavirus outbreak a day after twitter users criticized his proposal to give away test kits as an unnecessary burden on clinics and hospitals.
“I will donate a million masks,” Son tweeted in reply to a suggestion from one person, who identified themselves as a dentist in Kobe western Japan.
The coronavirus pandemic has prompted The SoftBank Group chief executive, who has 2.4 million followers, to begin tweeting after a three-year hiatus from the social network.
The coronavirus has infected more than 126,000 people and killed 4,624, according to a Reuters tally.
Almost 1,400 of those cases are in Japan, where 22 people have died, according to public broadcaster NHK.
Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki and Tim Kelly; Editing by Kirsten Donovan