No masking coronavirus rip-offs

Locals cashing in with big mark-ups

AS SOUTH Africa’s first case of coronavirus was confirmed yesterday, entrepreneurial locals are already selling masks and “survival kits” online at higher-than-average prices, according to Gumtree.

Marketing manager Estelle Nagel said the surgical masks sold for between R6 and R13 each on the site, but prices would go up even further.

“In other markets, these masks are being sold at 600% mark-ups.”

Nagel said the site was removing adverts purporting to achieve a 100% coronavirus prevention rate, and similar claims.

“Some sellers are selling welding masks and construction-grade face masks (used for working in dusty conditions during demolition), but these are not for medical use,” she explained.

Gumtree’s parent company, eBay, has already removed 20 000 adverts related to the virus and is taking steps to prevent price inflation.

The American surgeon-general has also urged the public to stop buying bulk masks, as they are generally ineffective and might trigger a serious shortage of these masks at hospitals and clinics, where they are used regularly. He also advised worried members of the public to wash their hands and avoid touching their faces as a best defence against contracting the virus.

Meanwhile, Google has also recorded a spike in searches regarding the virus.

Coronavirus has arrived in Africa, with Algeria, Egypt, Senegal, Morocco, Nigeria, Tunisia and now South Africa confirming cases of the disease, and Google said, understandably, it was attracting a lot of search interest in

South Africa and across sub-Saharan Africa.

The top three search questions for South Africans were: “What is coronavirus? “What causes coronavirus?” and “How did coronavirus start?”

The National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure facilitating the repatriation of South African citizens from the Chinese city of Wuhan – the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak – said yesterday it had secured an aircraft for the evacuation.

“An interdisciplinary team of relevant departments including Health, Home Affairs, Social Development and Defence will form part of the repatriation team from China to South Africa,” government spokesperson Phumla Williams said in a statement.

“They will be working with the Chinese authorities to screen the group of South Africans before they depart the epicentre of Wuhan.

“With the support of the South African embassy in China, a ground transport plan is being put in place to ensure that all citizens who are to be evacuated are safely brought to a central collection point from where they will be transported home.”

“Some sellers are selling ineffective constructiongrade face masks Estelle Nagel Gumtree