Coronavirus outbreak | Mumbai short of masks, thermometers; prices rise three-fold

Coronavirus (Representative image)

Mumbai is reportedly running out of masks and non-contact thermometers just as multiple coronavirus (COVID-19) cases crop up in north India.

Non-contact thermometers are unavailable at most medical stores and those with stocks have inflated prices to Rs 2,500-3,000 from Rs 500-800 apiece, the Hindustan Times reported.

This thermometer allows for body temperature to be checked from a distance of 15 cm, and is used by medical staff at clinics and hospitals for safety purposes in case of highly-infectious diseases, it said.

Shopkeepers are selling it for three to four times the actual price, Abhay Pandey, President of All Food and Drug License Holders Foundation, told the paper.

Besides this, the stock of surgical and N95 masks are also insufficient. Demand for the masks has skyrocketed almost 300 percent, Rakesh Bhagat, Director of Magnum Medicare – a Maharashtra-based manufacturer of masks, said. But with imports barred, local manufacturers are struggling to keep pace, especially since the raw material for these masks are also imported from China.

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The World Health Organisation (WHO) has directed medical staff to use N95, while others can use the surgical masks for protection against COVID-19. The former cost Rs 75 apiece, while the latter range between Rs 8-10 per piece. The shortage has inflated costs of surgical masks to Rs 35 apiece, the report said.

Prasad Danave, President of government body Retail and Dispensing Chemist Association, has also flagged concerns over substandard masks in the market as the segment lacks regulation and checks.