Fear of the spreading coronavirus is causing a global run on sales of face masks despite medical experts' advice that most people who aren't sick don't need to wear them. Shortages started cropping up in Asia after the outbreak became a crisis in China.
FIE - In this Jan. 29, 2020, file photo, people line up to buy face masks from a medical supply company in Nanning in southern China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Fear of the spreading coronavirus has led to a global run on sales of face masks despite medical experts' advice that most people who aren't sick don't need to wear them.
Ordinary people trying to protect themselves from the outbreak are not the only ones encountering shortages. Some health care professionals are seeing them as well. Marc Jaconksi, owner of Stanley’s True Value Hardware and Rental store in Philadelphia, said he saw a surge in demand for masks, particularly the N95, two weeks ago. But since Tuesday, when the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned that the virus will almost certainly spread in the U.S., sales went through the roof.
Mike Gania of the American Society of Health-Systems Pharmacists said some hospital pharmacies are saying that they have only a one- to two-week supply of masks and that the major wholesalers are unable to fill orders. Boston sees a lot of people wearing them incorrectly — over their mouths but not their noses, for example — and said they should understand that other things would be more effective, like frequent hand-washing.Medicom Group, a medical supply company based in Montreal, usually makes 150 million masks per year at its factory near Angers, France. At the beginning of February, the factory had orders for 500 million masks.
Dealmed, a New York company that makes and sells medical supplies, said it expects to sell out of face masks next week. The company temporarily stopped taking orders from new customers a month ago and ended sales on Amazon and Walmart.com. It is selling its remaining masks only to those that need them, such as hospitals, doctors’ offices or government agencies.
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