Online sales of antiviral flu medicines reportedly skyrocketed in China over 100-fold from a year ago as reports emerged that citizens hoarded antiviral flu drugs, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday (March 15).
The report mentioned that the analytics tracking site Liandanlu showed that the sales volume of the medicine, which is sold under the generic name oseltamivir, surged to about 533,100 units in the first 13 days of March on the China-based e-commerce platforms Taobao and Tmall. Bloomberg also reported that the daily average volume jumped 129-fold from a year ago.
Wang Ruizhe, who is a Shanghai-based healthcare analyst told Bloomberg: “People are more likely to panic following the massive Covid outbreak earlier. That combined with a relatively low stock of the antiviral led to a temporary supply-demand mismatch and price hikes.”
Ruizhe added: “It seems some people are hoarding the antiviral this time. The spread of flu among children is fanning anxiety among parents. The impact of the earlier Covid wave may have also fueled concern.”
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Such news about the stockpiling of medicines is not new, as when the COVID-19 cases were spreading in China, people hunted for fever medicines and virus test kits to save to contingencies.
People rushed to buy ibuprofen, cold medicines and Covid testing kits amid reports of shortages when China relaxed its most severe pandemic policies last year.
Reports have mentioned that the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention said the flu cases in China have been rising with the positivity rate being 42 per cent in the week beginning March 5, up from 25 per cent a week earlier.
Meanwhile, China reopened its borders to foreign tourists for the first time since the pandemic. News agencies mentioned that businesses in Shanghai said they are looking forward to welcoming tourists back after the three-year absence.
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