As the second wave of coronavirus in India has started showing signs of slowing down, people in the nation have apparently become less concerned about Covid safety measures. According to The All India Organization of Chemists and Druggists Association and manufacturers, the country is witnessing a sudden drop in the sale of face masks and sanitizers.
Are Indians reluctant to use face masks and sanitizers?
The data from the All India Organization of Chemists and Druggists Association suggested that the country has witnessed a drop in mask and sanitizer sales by 30 to 40 percent in the last 15 days.
Jagannath Shinde, president of the All India Organization of Chemists and Druggists Association said that people have reduced the use of masks and sanitizers as the number of coronavirus cases in the country started plummeting.
All India Mask Manufacturers Association president Anshumali Jain revealed that the drop in mask sales is primarily at the institutional level.
"When the wave started, a lot of government and private tenders were floated for bulk buys of masks for various government departments, including public hospitals. The number of such tenders has reduced recently," said Jain, Times of India reports.
Jain also added that there is a 50 percent drop in mask orders from retailers.
The inevitable third wave of Covid in India
As people are becoming reluctant to use masks and sanitizers when the cases started falling, several medical experts believe that this trend could result in an imminent third wave of the coronavirus pandemic.
A few weeks back, Dr KV Vijay Raghavan, the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Prime Minister informed the central government that the third wave in the country will happen for sure. However, he made it clear that it is impossible to predict the exact timeline of the Covid third wave outbreak.
