Mumbai: On Wednesday, Municipal Commissioner Praveen Pardeshi made it compulsory for all those moving in public places to wear a 3-ply or a cloth mask, or face action, but most medical stores across the city and suburbs have run out of 3-ply masks, while cloth masks are being sold at inflated rates, despite having been labelled an essential commodity by the Centre.
While some chemists had no masks available, some did have washable cloth masks, which they were selling at Rs. 40–Rs. 45 each. A medical store owner in Kurla, there was a problem with the supply of cloth masks too and companies were charging a premium for these, so naturally, customers would have to pick up the slack.
Three-ply (three-layered) masks, or disposable surgical masks have been in short supply, since the coronavirus outbreak, according to chemists. These are not available in most medical stores and no one can say when fresh stocks will arrive.
The chemist who had 3-ply masks was selling these for double and triple the price (Rs 10) suggested by the Centre last month, after it classified the mask as an essential commodity, along with hand sanitisers.
Abhay Kumar, president, Indian Pharmacists Association, said that the inflated rates were because they were probably selling old stock, which they had purchased from manufacturers at Rs 15-Rs.20 per mask, before the price cap. He was positive that within a week, stocks of 3-ply masks would arrive in the market, as they are being manufactured on a large scale by local manufacturers, he said. “Earlier, these masks were coming from China. The shortage is due to their import from China being stopped and because the government procured them in huge quantities for hospitals, thus affecting their availability in the market,” he explained.
While the civic body has allowed the use of home-made masks which can be reused after “proper washing and disinfection”, Kumar said proper sterilisation involved washing with detergent, then using antiseptic and drying the cloth without squeezing it and finally ironing it – a process of which there is scant awareness. “The least to do when using a handkerchief or home-made mask is washing and ironing before reuse,” he said.
