A set of 50 medical masks ended up costing almost RON 500, meaning RON 10/a piece, compared to 0.10 RON as it has been so far, and it’s all due to the speculations prompted by the coronavirus panic.
The Head of the Emergency Situations Department, Raed Arafat referred in a press conference today to the “extremely deviated conduct” of the companies that sell such flu masks, stressing that health authorities are making efforts to purchase the necessary medical equipment. He added that the flu mask shortages is an issue worldwide, as there are problems with the raw materials.
Arafat said there are enough stocks of protection equipment for now, but there is the risk for deliveries to being late.
“It is a deviated conduct to end up selling 50 masks for EUR 100. At some point we’ll have to see how can the issue be tackled legally”, Arafat stated, calling on citizens “not to panic and not listen to unconfirmed sources from social media.”
On the other side, the pharma producers and retailers warned over the scarce stocks of protection masks, saying the possibility of supplementing the stocks is limited, as producers cannot cope with the deliveries.
“Information from the market show that the production and delivery of protection masks is a priority for China. At the same time, these masks are mainly produced in China, which, due to the Covid-19 outbreak, cannot supplement deliveries.
As for the protective suits, pharmacies don’t sell such equipment, while dealers do not sell flu mask or protective suits,” says a press release of the Association of Pharmaceutical Suppliers and Retailers in Romania.
They recommend rigorous basic hygiene rules: frequent handwashing and using disinfectants.