No masking demand for these as virus fear spreads
Surgical masks flying off shelves as fear of coronavirus spreads
It could be the hottest fashion accessory of 2020, but finding one could be very hard.
They are surgical masks, and a check around Delaware County this week shows there’s been a run on them with many store shelves empty.
People are purchasing the masks due to the latest concerns over the coronavirus.
A check of some larger chain stores, including the Walgreens on Baltimore Avenue in Lansdowne and a CVS store on Chester Pike in Sharon Hill, were empty of the masks.
The story was the same in some of the smaller, locally owned stores.
At the Springfield Pharmacy inside the Olde Sproul Shopping Village in Springfield, Jake Gambo, a pharmacist at the store, said they’ve been out all week, and their wholesaler is on back order.
“We’ve even had a few people asking today,” Gambo said.
The run on the masks began earlier this week as news reports began circulating about the disease and the potential spread from China to the United States.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is monitoring the outbreak that began spreading in and near Wuhan City, China. Since the spread of the disease, there have been thousands of reported cases.
According to information from the CDC, although the confirmed cases originated in China, it has now spread to several other countries, including many in East Asia, Russia, Europe and North America.
As of Jan. 31, there have been six confirmed cases in the United States and 121 tests that were still pending. Another 114 people tested negative, according to their information.
As of Friday afternoon, there have been no confirmed reports of the disease in Pennsylvania. A student at a charter school in Philadelphia was suspected of being infected, but later reports indicated he did not have the disease.
Locally, officials are monitoring the potential spread of the disease.
“The threat of Montgomery County residents being infected with this new coronavirus is low unless they have traveled to the Wuhan area of China or have been in contact with someone from Wuhan who has been ill with suspected symptoms or has been confirmed positive,” according to a press release from the Montgomery County Health Department.
Still, the surgical masks are flying off the shelves.
Bill Kertis, an employee at Mel’s Drug World on Sproul Road in Broomall, said they’ve tried to reorder them, but everyone’s out of stock.
“They’re calling from all over, and no one has them at this point,” he said.
Although the owner wasn’t in at the time, as of Friday morning, there was one small store in Lansdowne, Atons Medical Supplies on North Lansdowne Avenue that still had some of the masks on the shelf. How long they stay in stock is anyone’s guess.