Stores sell out of masks

Several drug stores have sold out of masks used to prevent the spread of the SARS virus that has infected more than 1,400 people worldwide.

Taiwan's Watsons and Cosmed stores saw sales of the respirators recommended by the US' Centers for Disease Control (USCDC) soar 10-fold over the past two weeks as cases of the killer disease gradually rose here.

Several stores are still selling cloth masks, said to be useless against the spread of airborne viruses.

Cosmed pharmacist Cheng Ming-chi (鄭明麒) recommended the use of the 3M company's N-95 respirator to best protect against SARS exposure, particular in stuffy airplane cabins.

The USCDC recommend N-95 masks use for health care officials and household members in contact with SARS patients.

In addition, regular hand-washing with soap and water is urged.

Currently most stores are expecting to have fresh stocks of the N-95 by Tuesday.

The currently available 9913V disposable mask, also made by 3M, can protect people too, Cheng said.

Up to 10,000 face masks were sold out over the last 10 days by health and cosmetics chain Watsons in Taiwan.

"We used to sell about 1,000 masks a month a year ago," Elvy Chou (周立婷), Watsons' public relations specialist said yesterday. "But the figure rose to 800 a day last week and nearly 1,000 each day this week."

The nation's second largest drugstore chain Cosmed (康是美) also experienced the same fast sales of respirators this month, with sales surging almost ten-fold from a year ago, public relations specialist Anita Lai (賴文琦) told the Taipei Times.

The N-95 respirator, selling for NT$95, which meets USCDS guidelines for tuberculosis-exposure control, is designed to provide high filtration of certain airborne particles, according to Cathy Feng (馮慧君), corporate communication supervisor at 3M Taiwan Ltd.

"Our inventory in Taiwan has run out recently after we shifted 20,000 masks to 3M Hong Kong over the last two weeks," Feng said. The company said it has placed emergency orders to its US factories and expects the new shipments to arrive in Taiwan by air in mid-April.

3M sold around 50,000 face masks last year in Taiwan but has sold up to 80,000 through mid-March this year.

"Our mask sales jumped 300 percent over the last three weeks from a year ago," Feng said.