ST. LOUIS — The N95 masks are flying off shelves at the New Market Hardware store faster than people can put them on.
"This is what everybody's wanting ... obviously there's different brands, but these are rated apparently for this virus," said store manager Todd Lucks.
The CDC said coronavirus will eventually hit the U.S. To prepare, people are buying face masks in bulk. There is no guarantee the masks will prevent the spread of the virus, but SSM Health officials said they can help protect people.
"The last couple of weeks, we were fine. The inventory was coming back in, as we sold. Now, it's not," Lucks said. "We are working to try to find more."
Todd's store in the Central West End is feeling the effects in more ways than one, as even their mask suppliers are out of masks.
"I have a truck coming today that's supposed to have some cases on it, but we don't know if that's going to happen or not," said Lucks.
Since there's more demand than supply, businesses that need the masks for their day-to-day work said they are left exposed.
Sucheta Bhadi takes vintage furniture and sands it down until it looks good as new.
"They're not negotiable really in our line of work, especially considering my employees are exposed to it eight hours of the day," Bhadi said. "We do two or three coats of primer, then we sand it again, and then we spray lacquer on it."
Her employees need the masks to protect their lungs, and she said they're more useful in here than they are out on the street.
"We use them to protect lungs from dust, so I don't know if they really do the job of protecting you from a virus," Bhadi said.
The masks are a pretty routine practice for infections that are spread by respiratory droplets like viruses.
It's not yet clear if that's how this coronavirus is spread.
But while they may be helpful, health officials said it's still important to wash hands and avoid touching your face.
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