With 29 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in India, panic-buying of N95 masks and hand sanitizers is on the rise. Masks are reportedly getting out of stock at most places in Delhi-NCR, with prices going as high as Rs 500 for a Rs 150 mask.
A simple search on Amazon is also showing most masks as out of stock. “I had ordered 5 masks last week. There were many options back then. Today I checked, most are out of stock and the ones available are astronomically priced,” said Abhinas Mohanty, an IT professional working in Bhubaneswar.
A report in the Economic Times says that people are resorting to buying surgical masks at a premium due to the unavailability of N95 masks in the NCR region. Most retailers are selling 10x the number of masks per day.
Two schools in Noida were shut down after one of the parents tested positive for the virus. Similarly, 16 Italian tourists along with their Indian driver have also tested positive. Apart from them, one techie in Telengana and one Paytm employee in Gurgaon has contracted the disease. The three infected in Kerala have been cured.
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