St. Albert businesses are sold out of face masks, respirators and hand sanitizer as fear of coronavirus continues to spread.
Aspen Healthcare in St. Albert ran out of their stock a week ago, and started a waitlist for people who want to reserve masks in the meantime until they get another shipment.
Most customers are buying face masks to send to their relatives in China, said Charmaine Baldwinson, sales representative, and the business has seen a bump in sales since interest spiked a few weeks ago.
“Today we received three boxes, and it’s going to be sold out within the day because people are reserving them and we call them right away,” Baldwinson said.
Last Friday, the store received 30 more boxes of surgical face masks only to have them sold out by noon.
“Face masks sometimes just sit in our shelves, but now it’s completely gone.”
A pharmacist at Kingsridge Pharmacy said their stock of face masks is also running low, and they aren’t able to restock because their supplier is on back-order.
Home Depot in St. Albert has been out of respirators for the past few weeks, according to a sales representative.
The home improvement retailer has also limited the sale of N95 respirators to 10 per order online.
“I know we’re trying to get some in but all of our suppliers are back-ordered as well,” the salesperson said.
Part of the reason why retailers are having trouble keeping their supply stocked is that China accounts for about half of the world's mask production, with the capacity to produce 20 million a day – however, daily domestic demand is estimated to be between 50 and 60 million units.
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Medical professionals need a large supply of face masks as part of a broader system of protection because they are in direct contact with infected patients.
Alberta chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw said they are working with Alberta Health Services to fully understand the supply they have available now.
"Alberta Health Services did order quite early some extra supplies to add to their stockpile, so that is helping. We are also working closely with the federal government and other provinces and territories on collaborating with orders for personal protective equipment," Hinshaw said.
"At the moment we have robust stock in the health system, and we are working to make sure that we mitigate any risks where that could be threatened."
Some retailers are running out of other products.
Along with N95 respirators, Aspen Healthcare has run out of hand sanitizer.
Huong Tran, owner of Great Canadian Dollar & Party Store, said they ran out of hand sanitizer a month ago and haven't been able to restock.
"I tried to reorder and my suppliers told me they didn't have any left. Whatever they have in stock, they have to sell to schools, nurses, hospitals ... with retail, they gave up," Tran said.
As for how quickly their hand sanitizing wipes are selling, she said she's kept a few in the back for their employees to use, as they handle customer money every day.
An administrative representative at Costco said they received a new shipment of Lysol hand wipes this week, but ran out of toilet paper.
Misleading sense of security
Public health officials, including Hinshaw, do not recommend face masks as protection for people who are otherwise healthy in public.
Even though a mask may give people a sense of security, they provide little benefit, Hinshaw said in a previous interview with the Gazette.
“In a hospital setting, surgical mask, eye protection, gown and gloves would be considered appropriate for caution. But in the community setting, people don’t necessarily put the mask on or take it off while using the right precautions,” she said.
“They might touch their face as they’re touching the mask, and inadvertently contaminate themselves.”
N95 respirator masks require special fitting and testing to be effective, according to Alberta Health Services, and they provide little, if any, benefit beyond a regular face mask.
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While preparing for her trip to Los Angeles, California, last week, St. Albert resident Mary Curtain considered what she should pack to protect herself from the coronavirus.
At first, she said she thought a face mask would be a good solution, but after doing some research, she decided she was safe without one.
“There is a lot of misinformation being circulated, and I think there’s a lot of fear-mongering and a lot of misunderstanding about public safety,” she said.
"I just carry baby wipes with me when I'm sitting in an airplane seat and wipe everything down that I'm touching, take my vitamin C and wash my hands really well. I'm not concerned at all."
