In the context of the omicron spread in Russia, the demand for medical masks and respirators has increased. During the first working week of January, sales of these goods were twice as high as during the New Year holidays. Over the past week, there has been an increase in demand by another 15-17%. This is reported by the Izvestia newspaper.
The newspaper referred to the information provided by Platform OFD, the largest cash receipt data operator. At the same time, the company’s specialists noted that now the spikes in demand for personal protective equipment are not as large as at the very beginning of the pandemic.
As the Ministry of Industry and Trade told Izvestia, there will be no shortage of medical masks in connection with the increased demand. Russian regions are currently provided with PPE for two or three months to come.
Earlier it was reported that because of omicron, Russians are buying up express tests for COVID-19, masks and sanitizers.
The World Health Organization (WHO) assigned the greek letter Omicron to B.1.1.529 variant of COVID-19 found in South Africa. The WHO statement said that this variant “has a large number of mutations, some of which are concerning.”