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HUBBALLI: Medical stores are witnessing a steep drop in the sales of masks and hand sanitisers. Some say that the demand has shrunk by nearly 80 per cent.
Store owners in Hubballi are wringing their hands as they have maintained huge stocks of the products after anticipating strong demand throughout the pandemic.
A Pankaj, who owns a medical store in Gokul Road area, said that many people had become lax about Covid-19 precautions, avoiding wearing masks and sanitising their hands frequently, and this had resulted in poor sales. “People have almost stopped buying sanitisers,” he said.
Another store owner, Sridhar, said that in the initial months of the pandemic, people scrambled to buy safety products. “They used to buy any brand. We sold a huge number of sanitiser bottles in April and May. Now, there is variety in the market, but no one is buying it,” he said. Mask sales are also down.
A storage unit is up and running in Belagavi
BELAGAVI\HAVERI: Health officials in Belagavi have readied facilities to safely store Covid-19 vaccines, which are expected to arrive in January. Vaccine boxes from Hyderabad, Chennai and Pune will arrive at these facilities, which will then supply the shots to districts in North Karnataka.
Bagalkot, Dharwad, Gadag, Haveri, Karwar, Vijayapura and Koppal are among the places that will get supplies from Belagavi.
A district health official said a large storage unit with walk-in freezers and a cooler was ready and waiting for shipments. “We have also worked on protocols for sending vaccine boxes to other districts. Proper attention will be given to the smallest details and all care will be taken for handling and storing boxes,” a health official said.