Small-town pharmacies and international online retailers alike are struggling to keep up with the public’s voracious demand for masks, hazmat suits and other gear to protect against coronavirus.
Even as reports reveal the mild nature of the majority of cases outside mainland China, consumers snap up masks, gloves, hand sanitizers and other material to protect themselves.
At Wolkar Pharmacy in Baxter Springs, Kansas, pharmacist Brian Caswell can’t keep enough respiratory masks on his shelves.
“We’ve had families come in and buy everything we’ve had,” Caswell said. “Patients are on edge, and they’re preparing.”
Caswell tries to put things in perspective for his customers. Only 12 cases have been confirmed in the USA amid travel restrictions, expanded testing and isolation of the small number of infected individuals. No cases have been reported in Kansas, and nothing close to Baxter Springs, a town of almost 4,000 along U.S. Route 66 near the Oklahoma border.
“Because of the limited (U.S.) cases we’ve seen, there is no reason to panic or be concerned,” he said.
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A National Community Pharmacists Association survey this week found 63% of pharmacists report customers are buying surgical masks as a precaution against the respiratory virus. Ninety-six percent say they sell masks faster than they can stock them on store shelves.
Pharmacies report shortages of hand sanitizers, gloves and other materials, according to the survey.
Amazon retailers have sold 24 million medical masks and more than 20,000 hazardous-materials suits to U.S. customers since Jan. 1, according to Jungle Scout, an Austin, Texas-based firm that provides software tools for the online giant’s vendors.
The firm reported some online vendors marketing respiratory masks raised prices as much as 583% over the past five weeks.
Last week, Minnesota-based 3M, which supplies the widely sold N95 mask, said it will increase global production of respirators and other personal protective equipment products.
“3M is working with customers, distributors, and government and health officials to help them obtain needed supplies,” the company said in a statement.
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Public health officials said the surge in masks is a common response when an emerging threat such as the novel coronavirus is reported on news and social media. Although poorly fitting masks sold at stores might provide little to no protection for consumers, people feel like they need to do something to prepare for a new virus, experts said.
Leana Wen, an emergency room physician and former Baltimore health commissioner, said a similar pattern emerged after the Ebola outbreak in three West Africa nations reached the USA in 2014. One man infected with Ebola sought care at a Dallas emergency room, and two nurses who treated the man were infected.
Though the threat was contained and no other cases were transmitted in the USA, it stoked fear and a run on masks and other equipment.
“There were just a few cases of Ebola, but there was widespread panic,” said Wen, visiting professor of health policy and management at George Washington University. “We are certainly seeing this with coronavirus with the number of people who are buying masks and other things that are not even evidence-based.”
As of Friday, 31,530 people have been infected with coronavirus and 638 people have died. The outbreak largely has been contained to China; 317 cases and two deaths have occurred in other countries.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials described the 12 U.S. cases as having relatively mild symptoms. A suburban Seattle man, who was the first confirmed case after returning from Wuhan, China, developed a case of walking pneumonia but quickly recovered.
Widely shared images showing people in China clad in masks and empty streets under strictly enforced quarantines can be enough to trigger fear and anxiety among people here, experts said.
Nikole Benders-Hadi, a board-certified adult psychiatrist in White Plains, New York, said the coronavirus outbreak is a constant topic of conversation among her patients.
“I’m seeing things like anxiety creep up and fears creep up,” said Benders-Hadi, who consults patients in 14 states mostly in the Northeast through the online provider Doctor on Demand. “When you don’t have access to a medical provider, it gives strength to the fears and stigma. People feel like they are alone and they are not protected.”
Caswell, the Kansas pharmacist, said when customers seek his advice, he instructs them about steps they can take to stay healthy. He encouraged people to get a flu shot.
Public health officials said people should take normal precautions during cold and flu season: hand washing, covering your mouth when coughing or sneezing and staying home when you don’t feel well.
Although the flu is far more dangerous to Americans than coronavirus, people often don’t perceive it as a risk.
“The pathogen that is right near you we have gotten used to,” Wen said. “Less than half of Americans are getting a flu shot. This is a preventable issue that kills thousands, if not tens of thousands of people, every year.”
