Sales of masks, disinfectants down in Italy while coronavirus infections inch higher: pharmacy group

ROME, July 31 (Xinhua) -- Sales of face masks and disinfectants have plummeted to a fraction of their former highs in recent weeks, Italy's main pharmaceutical association said Friday, in what the group said could be a worrying sign as the number of domestic coronavirus infections starts to inch higher.

According to industry group Federfarma, weekly sales of face masks during the week ending July 27 totaled 2.7 million euros (3.2 million U.S. dollars), a slight increase over the previous week but down from a weekly high of 5.5 million euros in mid-April.