Some pharmacists said they are not placing an order for fresh stock as they are unable to clear the stock with sales of masks and sanitisers coming down along with COVID cases. “We bought the existing stock at higher prices and are now selling them at MRP fixed by the government. So, if we bought the N95 mask for Rs 50 earlier and were selling them at Rs 70, at a margin of Rs 20, now we are forced to sell them at Rs 22,” said R Sujay, owner of Raghavendra Clinic and Medical Shop at Tondiarpet. “We are not making any profit for the past two weeks.

At least the government should have considered the prices at which medical shops bought them, but they didn’t,” he added. “At the start of the COVID pandemic, people were buying more masks and sanitisers. But with rates slashed, we face 50 per cent loss in the business,” he further said. Meanwhile, with the number of COVID cases continuing to decrease in the city, the number of customers seeking masks, face shields, sanitisers and PPE kits have also come down.

“When the second wave started, the demand for masks and sanitisers shot up. So we purchased things in bulk at higher prices. But now we are unable to sell them, which resulted in a huge loss in the business. We are yet to order the next stock and are struggling with the existing stock, as the demand for these items has fallen in the past two weeks,” said Sethu K, owner of Abirami Medical Shop at Nandanam.