Demand for N95 Masks Increase, Stores Ran Out of Stock While Some Sellers Create New Modus
TAAL ERUPTION 2020 – The demand for N95 masks increased due to Taal’s eruption but sellers create a new modus to increase face masks’ prices.
Taal volcano is one of the most trending topics online after its eruption on Sunday (January 12, 2020). The volcano’s eruption displaced the residents in Batangas, Tagaytay, Cavite, and its nearby areas.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology also advised the residents in the affected areas to stay at home, close the windows, and wear face masks due to ash fall and other volcanic materials.
The exposure to ash could cause a negative impact on the body’s health and might cause breathing difficulty, eye, and skin irritation. The Department of Health advised the affected residents to take precautionary measures.
On Monday (January 13, 2020), the demand for N95 masks increased but sellers are making some modus operandi to earn more. Most stores in Bambang have run out of supplies of N95 masks after people line up on stores.
N95 is a very close masked that can protect the users against airborne particles, according to the US Food and Drug Administration.
Buyers lined up in Bambang to buy a massive amount of face masks and to give some of them to their relatives in Batangas. According to some reports, one buyer reported that some stores sell N95 masks at P200 per piece while some continued to sell it at P40 each. A drug store in Manila also allotted only one box of face masks per person.
“Para po lahat kasi mapagbigyan lahat e. Lahat mapagbigyan po kasi. Kasi kung maramihan, ‘yung iba binebenta lang nila e sinasamantala nila ‘yung ibang presyo, kaya ‘yun. Isang tao, isang (box ng) face mask lang muna,” a pharmacy vendor Marvin Mendonez said.
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