Coronavirus in Bangladesh spurs rush to buy face masks
People have started crowding shops or pharmacies to buy face masks to protect them from the infection of novel coronavirus following confirmation of three cases of the virus in the country.
The Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) on Sunday said two men and one woman in the country tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19). IEDCR Director Meerjady Sabrina Flora said two of them have recently returned home from Italy, the worst-hit European country.
After the news broke, rush of people was seen in footpaths, stationary shops, and pharmachies in the city to buy face masks. Seeing people's huge crowd, some dishonest traders raised the product's price.
They were seen selling Chinese face masks at Tk 100 to 120 and local ones at Tk 50-80 which several times higher compared to previous period.
A footpath trader said the product in his shop was sold out in a very short time. About all the buyers took the same three to four pieces.
Phamacy traders blamed supply shortage of face masks for its being coslier and crisis as its one of the import sources, China does not export it to meet its own demand.
Visiting several pharmacies, and online shopping websites, it was found that disposable non-woven fabrics mask was selling at Tk 25, cotton mask Tk 120, sponge anti dust mask Tk 50, N-95 (8210) mask Tk 250, N-95 (8110S) Tk 180, PM-2.5 mouth mask Tk 120, Xiaomi AirPOP three-sixty degree anti fog mask at Tk 350, Xiaomi smartly filter mask Tk 450 and Xiaomi PM-2.5 light wet mask.
Traders said prices of the protective face masks likely to rise more in comming days.
The novel coronavirus first emerged in Wuhan of China's Hubei province and later spread to more than 100 countries across the globe. So far, the virus claimed 3,598 lives and infected 105,801 people globally.
Panic earlier gripped people of Bangladesh when neighbour India recorded its first coronavirus case on January, and as of Sunday the country's total number of COVID-19 reached 39.
