Face masks sell out within hours in Johor

High demand: Sarah Afiqah putting up a sign saying that face masks have been sold out at the pharmacy in Taman Nong Chik, Johor Baru.

JOHOR BARU: Face masks are in high demand here with consignments being sold out within hours.

Instead of buying in pieces, customers are also buying in boxes.

Pharmacist B. Nirmala Devi, 30, said about 20 boxes of surgical masks and two boxes of N95 masks were quickly snapped up.

She said the pharmacy’s face mask supply received on Friday was immediately sold out.

“We received another 22 boxes of face masks on Saturday and within one hour, it was also sold out, ” she said.

Nirmala Devi said besides face masks, hand sanitisers and thermometers were also selling fast.

“Hand sanitisers have been sold out since Saturday and we only have a few units of thermometers left, ” she said.

Assistant pharmacist Sarah Afiqah Yahaya, 24, said the number of people buying face masks had increased since Friday.

“Many people have started buying face masks since about two weeks ago as the number of people with influenza A is on the rise.

“But when the first case of the coronavirus was reported in Malaysia, the number rose significantly, ” she said, adding that many customers started buying the face masks in boxes instead of in pieces.

She said her pharmacy had to turn away customers looking for face masks as fresh supply would only arrive tomorrow.