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Hong Kong face mask prices soar as residents scramble to stock up amid Wuhan coronavirus fears
- Some pharmacies have tripled prices since cases were confirmed inside the city, residents told the Post
- Meanwhile, several district councils have approved funding to get masks in hands of city’s poor and elderly
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The cost of face masks has spiked sharply across Hong Kong in recent days, with some pharmacies tripling prices as residents and tourists worried by the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus scramble to stock up on the protective gear.
On Friday afternoon, masks in two of six pharmacies the Post visited in the popular Tsim Sha Tsui shopping district were out of stock, while some were charging as much as HK$200 for a box of 50 surgical masks, and HK$60 for an N95 respirator, widely used during the 2003 Sars outbreak, which claimed 299 lives in Hong Kong.
Long queues were also spotted across the city, including at Festival Walk in Kowloon Tong and AEON department store in Tai Koo, with the latter restricting customers to two boxes of masks each.
Retailers blamed the price increases on a spike in costs, saying there was limited wholesale supply.
On Lok Road, the Lung Shing pharmacy charged HK$150 for a box of surgical masks. Masks were unavailable for individual sale.
“The wholesale prices are high. It’s difficult to get the stock,” a saleswoman who declined to be named said.
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