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Coronavirus fear touches off a global run on face masks
[AP] 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.Many businesses are sold out, while others are limiting how many a customer can buy. Amazon is policing its site, trying to make sure sellers don’t gouge panicked buyers. In South Korea, hundreds lined up to buy masks from a discount store. Rumors that toilet paper and napkins could be used as masks have emptied store shelves in Asia of paper goods over the past few weeks. Both ordinary people trying to protect themselves from the outbreak and medical professionals are facing shortages. well. Some industry officials are attributing the shortages not just to high demand but to disruptions in supply: An outsize share of the world’s surgical masks are made in China ‐ 50%, by its own estimate. But even factories there that have ramped up demand say they are hard pressed to meet local demand. The government has taken over manufacturers, and exports have plunged. "Before the outbreak of the epidemic, we used to export 600,000-700,000 surgical masks a month, but now the amount is zero," David Peng, manager of Ningbo Buy Best International Trading Co. in Ningbo, south of Shanghai, said. The company’s dozen or so suppliers in Hubei, near the center of the outbreak, have been ordered to prioritize government orders. Posted by: Besoeker 2020-02-28 |
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