The Malaysian Insight

PANIC buying has resulted in a shortage of face masks, disinfectant and other similar products as the public try to ward off the threat of the deadly coronavirus, said sellers and distributors.

They told The Malaysian Insight that their concern heightened after seven confirmed cases in Malaysia.

Malaysia is among several nations trying to contain an outbreak of the novel coronavirus from Wuhan province in China that has infected more than 6,000 and killed 132 in China.

At certain pharmacies in Kuala Lumpur, the masks are sold out within 30 minutes of being restocked.

An employee at AA Pharmacy told The Malaysian Insight that the situation is worsened by parents wanting to buy face masks for their children in time for the reopening of schools.

“School will open again tomorrow (today) after the Chinese New Year holidays… many parents are lining up as early as 8am to buy masks,” said the staffer who only wanted to be known as Wu.

She said the store will limit the number of masks customers can buy to prevent hoarding.

“We have had customers who hoarded before, so we have decided to limit the number of items per customer so every family can have some.”

AA Pharmacy sells three types of masks – N95 face masks, three-layer and bamboo charcoal. There are now only N95 masks left at RM5 per piece.

“It is possible that our existing stock will be sold out in about two days. After that, we’ll need to get more, and we can’t really estimate how long do we have to wait for new stock because it’s all from China.

“To my understanding, the Customs Department there is restricting exports currently,” Wu said.

Other than face masks, disinfectants are being cleaned out as well.

The Malaysian Insight visited many pharmacies in Kuala Lumpur and found several shops facing a shortage of face masks.

A manager who requested anonymity said the shortage started even before the Chinese New Year as stores scrambled to stock up.

“We can’t get much stock either. Sometimes the masks are sold out within 30 minutes after receiving new stock,” he said.

Pharmacists, however, have urged the public to remain calm. They said even though there’s panic buying of masks, there is enough supply to go around.

“Currently, market demand is spiking because people are worried about the virus. Before this, it was the influenza A, now it is the Wuhan virus. The increased demand is very normal,” said one of the pharmacists.

The Malaysian Insight also spoke to a distributor to understand the market’s current situation.

He said he has been overwhelmed with phone calls for the past few days, asking if there’s stock for face masks.

“Almost every hour, I’ll receive a call from a customer, all of them asking if there’s stock for face masks. The problem is I don’t have any.”

He hopes factories can increase production to meet the spike in demand. – January 30, 2020.