Demand for face masks skyrockets, causing shortages amid coronavirus fears. Experts say healthy people do not need them.

Fear of the spreading coronavirus is leading to a global run on sales of face masks despite growing medical evidence that most people who are not sick do not need to wear them for protection.

Many businesses are sold out, while others are limiting how many a customer can buy. Amazon is policing its site, trying to make sure sellers don’t gouge panicked buyers.

In South Korea, hundreds lined up to buy masks from a discount store. Rumors that toilet paper and napkins could be used as masks have emptied store shelves in Asia of paper goods over the past few weeks.

People trying to protect themselves from the outbreak and medical centers alike are facing shortages.

The shortages are being attributed not just to high demand, but to disruptions in supply: An outsize share of the world’s surgical face masks are made in China — 50%, by its own estimate. But even factories there that have ramped up production say they are hard pressed to meet local demand. The government has taken over manufacturers, and exports have plunged.

“Before the outbreak of the epidemic, we used to export 600,000 to 700,000 surgical masks a month, but now the amount is zero,” said David Peng, manager of Ningbo Buy Best International Trading Co. in Ningbo, south of Shanghai. The company’s dozen or so suppliers in Hubei, near the center of the outbreak, have been ordered to prioritize government orders.

Apart from shortages of workers, manufacturers say they are struggling to get enough raw materials to make the masks. Tony Zhou, sales manager for Suzhou Sanical Protective Products Manufacturing Co., said his company is asking overseas customers if masks can be delivered a few months later.

In the U.S., Walgreens, Home Depot, Lowe’s and True Value Hardware are reporting a sharp uptick in sales of masks over the past several weeks and say they are scrambling to get more from suppliers.

Home Depot, the nation’s largest home improvement chain, has limited sales of N95 respirators to 10 per person. They have a close facial fit and more filtration material than general surgical face masks, enabling them to keep out at least 95% of particles.

Marc Jaconksi, owner of Stanley’s True Value Hardware and Rental store in Philadelphia, said he saw a surge in demand for masks, particularly the N95, two weeks ago. But since Tuesday, when the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned that the virus will almost certainly spread in the U.S., sales went through the roof.

“We would be crazy busy with snow, but we are not getting snow,” he said. ”We’re crazy busy with respirators.”

Jaconski said his store has sold 1,000 masks of all kinds in the past two weeks. He has ordered more N95s, but customers are so desperate they are picking up lightweight dust masks or buying heavy-duty respirators used for asbestos cleanup that sell for up to $60.

“It’s usually the oldest folks who get a little crazed,” he said. ”This time, it is everybody.”

The virus has sickened more than 82,000 people worldwide and killed more than 2,800, according to international health authorities.

Still, the CDC doesn’t recommend that people wear face masks to protect themselves from the virus. The CDC says people infected — or those showing symptoms such as fever and shortness of breath — should wear masks to avoid spreading it to others. Health care workers also need masks, the agency says.

Mike Gania of the American Society of Health-Systems Pharmacists said some hospital pharmacies are saying that they have only a one- to two-week supply of masks and that the major wholesalers are unable to fill orders.

Within hospitals, surgical masks are worn by operating room teams — doctors, nurses, anesthesiologists — and frequently by pharmacists. Staff members caring for patients with dangerous infections wear the N95 masks.

Dr. Sarah Boston, a veterinary surgical oncologist and author in Toronto, uses 10 to 15 surgical masks per week in her practice. She switched to a less comfortable brand when her usual supplier ran out.

“I’ve spoken to a lot of people who are worried that we’re going to lose supply or not be able to get them,” she said.

Boston sees a lot of people wearing them incorrectly — over their mouths but not their noses, for example — and said they should understand that other things would be more effective, like frequent hand-washing.

Companies that make masks are struggling to keep up.

Medicom Group, a Montreal medical supply company, usually makes 150 million masks per year at its factory near Angers, France. At the beginning of February, the factory had orders for 500 million masks. Orders have only grown since then, the company said, and it has hired new workers and increased capacity at its plants, including two in Shanghai and one in Augusta, Georgia.

3M, the Minnesota-based manufacturer, said it has ramped up production of respirators at its facilities in the U.S., Europe, Asia and Latin America.

Many people in Asia routinely wear masks against allergies, colds and smog, and soaring demand has prompted other manufacturers to retool to begin making masks.

Taiwan manufacturer Foxconn, a major supplier of electronics to Apple, said it has begun making about 1 million masks a day for its own factories.

Dealmed, a New York company that makes and sells medical supplies, said it expects to sell out of face masks next week. It temporarily stopped taking orders from new customers a month ago and ended sales on Amazon and Walmart.com. It now is selling only to buyers that need them most, such as hospitals, doctors’ offices or government agencies.

Sales of gloves, gowns and other items jumped as much as 300% in February from the year before, said Michael Einhorn, Dealmed’s president. Sales of face masks are so astronomical, he said, he hasn’t been able to calculate them.

In Italy, the site of Europe’s biggest cluster of cases, the government met with the country’s business lobby to work out a centralized distribution system to get masks to hard-hit areas.

Italy’s financial police announced they busted 20 people based in Turin for selling masks that were falsely said to offer complete protection against the disease. They were selling for as much as 5,000 euro apiece, or about $5,500.

On Amazon, the best-selling item in its health and household section Thursday was a pack of three cotton masks for $19.99. Ten-packs of 3M masks were sold out. And a listing for 100 disposable masks said it would arrive at shoppers’ doorsteps sometime in April or May.

Prices varied wildly on Amazon. Some sellers were charging $98.50 or more for 50 disposable surgical masks; others were charging $33 for a similar set. Hand sanitizers were also hard to find on the site, with some bottles of Purell and Amazon’s own brand sold out.

Dr. John Huber, a clinical psychologist and chairman of the Austin, Texas-based nonprofit Mainstream Mental Health, said retailers need to do a better job of allaying customers’ fears and sharing the CDC’s advice.

“It’s the fear of the unknown,” Huber said. “Once we understand something, we tend not to be so fearful.”

SportsPlus

News

Alabama pedestrian killed when he was struck by a Mack dump truck early Monday, state troopers say

News

Alabama teen killed when dirt bike collides with pickup truck, state troopers say

News

Alabama man convicted in fentanyl overdose death of 15-year-old girl

News

Alabama man killed in early morning collision, state troopers say

News

Worker killed after rock collapse at Alabama mine

News

Man killed by Alabama officers after he lunged at them with knife identified

News

Unoccupied police car crashes into Alabama restaurant patio injuring two adults, two children

News

Four dead, more than 20 injured after Alabama mass shooting

News

Alabama teen killed when ATV strikes tree, state troopers say

News

Alabama motorcyclist killed, another driver charged with his death after crash, state troopers say

News

Alabama man killed when car runs off road, hits utility pole, gas line, then tree, state troopers say

News

Alabama deputies involved in multi-state car chase, ending with shooting

News

Alabama man arrested after reportedly planting GPS device on car to stalk victim

News

Alabama man found guilty of plotting to murder federal prosecutor

News

Alabama police confiscate animals after photo shows malnourished dog chained to car

News

Alabama man killed when personal watercraft hits log, throws man onto shore, state police say

News

Alabama man killed when motorcycle strikes guardrail, state troopers say

News

15-year-old driver leads Alabama police on 5-county chase

News

Alabama motorcyclist killed in crash with SUV, 18-wheeler

News

Alabama man killed in head-on collision with SUV, state troopers say

News

92-year-old man, his 88-year-old wife killed in apparent murder-suicide, Alabama police say

News

Alabama woman charged with murders after elderly woman beaten with hammer dies, man’s body found

News

Alabama teen killed, three others injured including baby when car crashed into trees, state troopers say

News

Two men found dead inside apartment at Alabama senior living facility