Given the general paranoia and fear over the Wuhan novel coronavirus, or Covid-19, outbreak that has spread across the globe, many regions that have reported cases of patients suffering from infections have also reported a shortage of masks. As you can tell, the demand for protective gear, primarily face masks, have skyrocketed to ridiculous extremes. In fact, prices of N95 face masks are now worth more than gold in some places. Yeah. Let that sink in.
Well it seems that the demand for face masks has reached a violent fever pitch, as it is reported that people are now willing to break into locked cars to steal boxes of them!
In an incident that was reported by Sin Chew Daily, a parked car in Hong Kong had its windows completely shattered after robbers spotted boxes of face masks that were left sitting on the seats of the car. The theft was said to have happened at Choi Yuen Estate, Sheung Shui, Hong Kong.
There were eight boxes of N95 masks, which are regarded as being the mask that offers the best level of protection, and the 53-year-old car owner lodged a police report after finding that his car had been broken into and all eight boxes of the masks were stolen!
That’s right, people are now breaking into cars to steal boxes of face masks.
After a police report was lodged, Hong Kong Police managed to arrest a 33-year-old man in connection with the case. It is unclear at this point in time as to whether he is the sole perpetrator of this crime, or if he had accomplices involved.
If this continues, who knows what else people may do just to get their hands on a face mask! But again, it isn’t just having a face mask on hand that keeps you safe from any infections, but a big part of it also comes from practising good hygiene habits, especially washing your hands! Stay safe everyone!
Also read: N95 Masks Now Worth MORE Than A Gram Of Gold In Indonesia, One Box Costing RM452