Coronavirus scare hits face mask supply in India
The government recently banned the export of face masks to meet the increasing demand back home, and to ensure its adequate supply to people.
Amid the coronavirus scare, a frightened public has been buying face masks and related precautionary equipment, resulting in its shortage across the country.
The shortage of masks seem to be evident after there were reports of it disappearing from private-run hospitals as well as small medical stores due to high demand.
The virus has no antidote, and hence people are taking basic precautions to prevent the virus from affecting them.
The coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, originated in the Wuhan Province of China, and if reports are to be believed, the total estimated reported cases have now crossed 90,000 globally.
In India, 28 cases of coronavirus has been reported so far from Telengana (1), Delhi (1), Jaipur (16 Italian foreigners and one driver), and Kerala (3).
To understand more about the on-ground situation in India, SocialStory spoke to Prateek Sharma, MD, and CEO, Nanoclean Global.
Speaking about the demand for masks, he said, “The demand is above the average. With many cases coming from different parts of India, we have increased our daily production, and now, on an average, we are selling around 1,00,000 face masks every day.”
Further, to meet the increasing demand and to ensure the face mask is available to all its citizens, the government banned the export of face masks a month ago.
According to Prateek, this is a stern step taken by the government when compared to South Korea, where the country exported 90 percent of the face masks, and now there is shortage of masks to meet the demand.
The World Health Organisation (WHO), in a recent statement, said there have been reports of the shortage of masks across the world, and urged governments and the industry to increase their manufacturing by 40 percent to meet the demand.
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Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus , Director General, WHO, is reported to have said:
“Without secure supply chains, the risk to healthcare workers around the world is real. Industry and governments must act quickly to boost supply, ease export restrictions, and put measures in place to stop speculation and hoarding. We can’t stop COVID-19 without protecting health workers first.”
There has been a six-fold rise in the demand of these masks, whereas N95 respirator’s demand has doubled, and the demand for gowns has also doubled.
Along with startups in the face mask sector, many state governments in India have taken considerable steps to tackle the issue.
Industry players like TradeIndia.com, , and Dettol have reported a rise in the manufacturing and export of coronavirus masks as people are rushing to medical stores to get their hands on either N95 or surgical face masks for protection.
Apart from using masks, people are also resorting to alternative measures to combat the spread of coronavirus.
Vishal Kaushik, Founder and Managing Director, , says, "In the last two months, we have witnessed a 15 percent hike in demand for medicinal herbs such as Shilajit and Ashwagandha. Nowadays, people are opting for various precautionary measures for a healthier lifestyle and are taking Ayurveda very seriously. We also recommend other Ayurvedic herbs like Tulsi, Geloy, etc., to boost immunity.”
He says, there is also an increase in demand of mask making machines by 250 percent.
At present, the Delhi government has set up isolation wards in 25 government hospitals. On the other hand, Karnataka Health Minister B Sriramulu on Wednesday appealed to the people not to pay heed to social media rumours.
He tweeted saying, “I request you to consider only official information without heeding to any rumors that are spreading across various social networking sites. Our government and department have taken all possible measures to prevent the spread of the infection.”
The first case of coronavirus was reported in Bengaluru after a techie from the city, with a travel history to Dubai and his interaction with people from Hong Kong, was admitted to a hospital in Hyderabad.
(Edited by Megha Reddy)