KUALA LUMPUR: Face masks are back in demand after the government announced that wearing them is mandatory in crowded places and public transport effective Aug 1.
Checks by the New Sunday Times at pharmacies in the Klang Valley found that a small wave of panic buying had started since last week.
A Big Pharmacy branch manager, who declined to be named, said there had been a 40 per cent increase in face-mask purchases since last week.
"People have started buying face masks in bulk again after the announcement. If we face a supply shortage again, we'll have to allow one box of face masks per customer to control our stock," he said.
Many retailers restricted the number of face masks and sanitisers sold to each customer to cope with panic buying at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic a few months ago.
A Pharmacy Parkcity assistant pharmacist, who wanted to be known as Con, however, viewed the rush to buy face masks as something positive because it meant the public were better informed of Covid-19's risks.
"Since early this month, we've seen customers purchase three boxes of face masks at one go. They are keeping up with the development regarding the virus and I hope it stays that way.
"Everybody needs to participate in wearing face masks as we can't afford to have a second wave of Covid-19 infections."
Residents in smaller cities and towns said they needed to buy face masks in bulk as they had faced situations where the items were unavailable.
In Kulim, pharmacies imposed a limit on the sale of face masks.
Many pharmacies ran out of face masks during the first month of the Movement Control Order (MCO).
Siang Pharmacy's Chai Boon Yee said its branch here was stocking up on face masks every day and was improving its customer-purchasing systems.
"Last month, we ordered three-ply face masks and ensured they were delivered every day.
"This item is a necessity now, and to encourage more people to wear and have their own face masks, we offered a RM10 discount on every second box of their purchase," said Chai.
Another outlet, Sri Rambai Pharmacy, limited purchases to one box per customer.
Its manager said its stock of face masks was enough to face a possible wave of panic buying.
However, he said, the pharmacy would limit purchases to 10 pieces per customer if supplies were interrupted again.
A student, Adlin Suraya Che Jafri, 25, said her family made sure that they had enough face masks at home.
"Since the supply of face masks is somewhat consistent at shops nowadays, my family always buys them in bulk.
"I really hope that the supply of face masks is not interrupted this time around. I do worry about people buying them in bulk and reselling them at higher prices, just as we saw when people took advantage of the situation at the beginning of the MCO.
"We need stricter enforcement to ensure everybody complies with the rules," she said.
Marketing executive Sallehin Ghazalli, 25, said his family exhausted all avenues to ensure they had enough face masks.
"We've resorted to buying face masks online. That way, we can buy them in bulk, instead of being limited to only one or two boxes.
"We went through a month of no supply of face masks in this town. I hope for better management of supplies this time around."