Drugstores in Ho Chi Minh City are making a killing from face masks as demand rises, fueled by the fear of a new coronavirus epidemic from China.

Several local pharmacies see 3M anti-dust masks completely sold out, according to a quick survey by Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reporters.

Meanwhile, medical masks which fetch VND35,000 (US$1.5) a box are also in demand.

According to a staff member of a pharmacy on Hai Ba Trung Street, there has been a spike in the number of people buying face masks of all kinds during the ongoing Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday.

Normally, the place only sells seven to eight boxes of medical masks a day, but now the number is a hundred times higher.

On social media, netizens have also taught one another how to wear medical masks in appropriate ways advised by experts.

It is also not hard to see people wearing face masks while sitting in a coffee shop, walking on the sidewalk or hanging out for fun.

“I’m not sure how the novel coronavirus epidemic is now, but I told my whole family to wear face masks whenever they are in public places, and to wash their hands, feet and faces carefully when they get home,” Thanh Tam, a local, told Tuoi Tre while taking her child to Nguyen Van Binh Book Street in District 1.

A pneumonia outbreak, caused by a new strain of the coronavirus family that caused SARS and MERS, first surfaced in Wuhan City in December 2019.

The virus has killed at least 81 and infected more than 2,700 people in China while spreading to the U.S., France, Australia, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, and others.

In Vietnam, 39 patients are being isolated and under observation for the new coronavirus, including 13 in the northern region, two in the southern region, and 24 in the central region.

There is currently no Vietnamese citizen infected with the disease, Dang Quang Tan, deputy head of the Department of Preventive Medicine under the Ministry of Health, confirmed at a Sunday conference regarding the new coronavirus epidemic.

A staff member is seen wearing a face mask while working at Nguyen Van Binh Book Street in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Tuoi Tre / Tu Trung

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