Run on masks and disinfectants Demand for hygiene materials explodes
Masks and disinfectants are back in high demand. Online retailer Brack is seeing a noticeable increase in sales, while the federal government is observing rising corona figures.
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- The Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) has been observing a steady rise in the number of coronavirus infections since spring.
- At the same time, the demand for hygiene and protective material is increasing.
- There has been a significant increase in sales compared to the previous year, particularly for disinfectants and protective masks.
It is not clear whether there is a connection: while the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) has observed a steady increase in coronavirus infections since May, demand for hygiene and protective materials is rising throughout Switzerland. Sales of respiratory masks, disinfectants and rubber gloves have risen by 40 percent compared to the previous year, according to online retailer Brack.
It is striking that there has been no noticeable seasonal decline in the hygiene and protective material business this year. Normally, sales would shrink noticeably in spring and summer. This year is different: in May, sales of disinfectants were 90 percent higher than in May of the previous year. Overall, business with hygiene and protective materials was at the same level as in November 2023.
Switzerland is stocking up
Brack cannot prove that the increase in sales has a causal link to the rising Covid-19 cases and the increasing viral load in wastewater as well as increased reports of other respiratory diseases, but the online retailer does not want to rule it out either and suspects an increased need among customers to prevent infectious diseases.
It is apparently not only private customers who are ramping up protective measures against infection. Authorities, businesses, schools and hospitals in particular are increasingly stocking up on disinfectants and masks.
