Health officials worry over lack of N95 masks

CEBU, Philippines - While authorities recommended that the public wear the N95 face mask as protection against haze, health officers yesterday raised their concern on the lack of supply of the recommended types of mask in the market.

Cebu City Health Officer Daisy Villa said during a press conference that demand for the N95 face masks is increasing but pharmacies and drugstores have already run out of stocks.

 She said that as an alternative, they are now advising a way involving the use of ordinary face masks.

Mandaue City Health Officer Edna Seno said they resorted to giving out ordinary face masks and advised the users to wear two at the same time and at the same time cover their mouth and nose.

She said they also provided the same kind of protection to their employees, especially those who cannot avoid continued outside exposure such as those assigned in cleaning the streets and working in landfills. 

“That’s the only available stock we have. We are trying to see if we can purchase N95,” she said.

Lapu-Lapu City Health Officer Rodolfo Berame said they already started distributing boxes of ordinary face masks to all their health centers to be given to their constituents for free.

He said they do not encourage them to buy N95 face masks because it is expensive.

Cebu Provincial Health Officer Cynthia Genosolango, on the other hand, said they are planning to make an emergency purchase of N95 masks but have advised the public, especially those who have existing respiratory or cardiovascular diseases, to use wet handkerchiefs to cover their nose and mouth and for them to stay indoors, if possible, until the supply of N95 will be available for distribution.

“According sa Pagasa, dili daw advisable ang ordinary masks even if i-double kay they are just like a trap. The particulates are stuck there and you are continually breathing it in. So katong panyo nya basaon lang or ang N95 lang ang gamiton,” she said.

Genosalango further reminded the public to immediately seek medical attention if an existing illness has worsened or if one has already contracted an infection in the respiratory tract due to the polluted air.

Environmental Management Bureau-7 Director William Cuñado likewise reiterated the use of wet handkerchiefs as a preventive measure, especially to mitigate difficulty in breathing. 

He said that the handkerchief must be kept wet until such time the person resumes normal breathing.

“Keep it nga mabasa all the time aron ang particulates mopilit sa panyo nga basa pero kung inyong pa-ughon from 30 to 45 minutes, ma-inhale gihapon ang mga particulates nga namilit,” he said.

Meanwhile, Zaide Bati-on, chief of the Department of Trade and Industry – Cebu Province Consumer Welfare and Business Regulation Division, confirmed that based on their monitoring Tuesday afternoon, there are already drugstore chains in Cebu that no longer have stocks of N95 masks.

She said pharmacies and even hardware stores do not maintain plenty of supplies of the N95 masks since these are not considered as saleable items in the market.

She said pharmacies and hardware stores may not have foreseen the sudden increase in the demand for N95 face masks, which are usually bought for industrial purposes.

 N95 face masks are commonly used in manufacturing industries like cement-making or furniture-making.

Bation said they called hardware stores in Cebu and were informed that they can get more stocks from their regular suppliers.

 She said the public and local government units can book an order through the hardware stores. Local pharmacies, she was told, would also have more stocks of N95 masks available next week.

 Bation said she was assured by the hardware stores and pharmacies that they would not increase. What used to be N95 masks sold at P55 each are now sold in local pharmacies at a range of P75 to P100, while hardware stores sell them at P60 to P75 each.

She said they will also monitor supplies in uptown Cebu drugstores and in malls. — (FREEMAN)