Because demand for sanitizers, masks has been at a fever pitch amid the spread of the novel coronavirus lately, masks and sanitizers are flying off the shop shelves in Vietnam. Accordingly, people transferred to place order online.
However, Head Nguyen Van Bach advised people to store up the two items causing shortage of them. Moreover, hoarders will take unfair advantage of the situation to release substandard commodities.
Various kinds of hand sanitizers and facemasks have been advertised in internet including Japanese and South Korean ones. Diversification of commodities, on the one hand, has helped to reduce pressure but on the other hand, consumers must be careful about selecting good products.
After she toured many drug stores in the District to buy facemask for herself and her children , Ms. Pham Thi Ngoc Hien in District 12 yesterday could not buy any facemasks. She had no choice but ordered two boxes of facemask in internet worth VND300,000.
Shippers delivered two boxes to her house as quickly as possible, she said. The product is labeled in Japanese and Chinese.
Not only Ms. Hien but many consumers who couldn’t buy facemasks and hand sanitizers in drug stores resorted to buy the products online. Tour guide Le Hieu Thuan said most of the online products are made in Japan and South Korea; therefore, its prices are quite high.
Online trader advertised to sell from several containers to tens of containers of facemasks each having 50 boxes at prices from VND100,000 to VND140,000 a box. Though many online traders post normal price of facemask, they often answered that they have just run out of the product promising to sell later.
The city Market Surveillance Department yesterday said since early February, it has handled 49 stores which sell facemask. Market Surveillance inspectors have seized over 340,000 facemasks, 85 containers ( of around 150,000 facemasks), 826 boxes of different facemasks, eight rolls of fabric and 1,761 bottles of hand sanitizers and 150 kilogram of hand soap and gel. All products are without receipt of origin.
Big supermarkets like Co.opmart and Big C are displaying various hand sanitizers but facemasks are sold out.
