Demand soars again for masks in Kolkata

Kolkata: With the fear of another COVID wave doing the rounds, masks that had all but disappeared are making a comeback. In the past two days, since the Union health ministry flagged concern over the new variant of COVID, pharma retailers and wholesalers in the city have started getting enquiries about masks.

“We were selling a maximum of 500 masks per day even a few weeks back. The demand picked up during the onset of winter as pollution level went up. But the demand spiked after the Centre raised concerns,” said Somnath Ghosh of Metro Pharma.

Ritayan Mukherjee, 43, who works as a consultant in a multinational company in Park Street used to travel every day to Kolkata from Konnagar, wears surgical mask outdoors now. He said, “AQI in Kolkata has been high since the end of November and there is a constant haze even in afternoon.”

“As pandemic receded, I stopped wearing a mask but after my doctor’s advice to get rid of air pollution, I again started wearing a mask,” said Ujjal Sarkar, 40, who has recurrent complaints of suffering from cough and sneezing during the winter period.

Rajendra Khandelwal of Dhanwantary Pharma said sales of masks have started picking up since end of October. “There are morning walkers and senior citizens who wear masks, especially in the morning,” said Khandelwal.

“Due to the vast construction works in my area I am using a mask this winter when I am staying outdoors,” Auli Samanta, 25, a student from Behala. Prabir Mitra, an MBBS from Calcutta National Medical College, is now practising medicine in the UK. He was in Kolkata a week back. “We did not wear masks in Kolkata. But we were affected by allergies,” he said.