Sale of valved N95 masks goes on unabated in Jalandhar

Ajay Joshi

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Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, July 29

Even as the Union Health Ministry has warned against the use of N95 masks, particularly those equipped with valved respirators, its use is still persistent in the district.

Also, ignorant of the warning, retailers and wholesale dealers of medicines continue to sell valved N95 masks unabated.

While some chemists at Dilkhusha Medicine Market and Mahiran Gate denied having selling these masks for the past one week, chemists in various streets and residential areas are selling such masks for Rs100 to Rs150. Salespersons at Bajaj Medicals, near Maqsudan Chowk, selling good quality valved N95 masks for Rs150, said they were not aware of any warning against the use of these masks and customers were also purchasing these. Similarly, owners at Sandhu Chemists near, Sacred Heart Hospital, said the sale of N95 masks with valves were usually preferred by people. Hence, their sale was still prevalent in the wholesale market. They were not informed about the ill-effects of the use of N95 masks.

Vikrant Chopra, owner Chopra medicine house at Mahiran Gate said he had stopped the sale of these masks and was also selling N95 masks without valves.

Meanwhile, residents wearing valved N95 masks claimed that they were using these masks since the Covid outbreak and had purchased them in bulk.

Khusboo Nehi, who works at a private bank, said: “I got to know about the harmful uses of the mask through a news report circulated on social media. However, I continued using it, as it is still available in the market. If these valved masks are so inappropriate, then their sale should also be curtailed.”

The Director General of Health Services, Ministry of Health, through a letter, had recently informed the principle secretaries of health and medical education of all state and Union territories against the ‘inappropriate use’ of valved N95 masks and asked the public not to use these.

Meanwhile, Anurag Aggarwal, additional chief secretary, health, confirmed that the valved respirator N-95 masks were detrimental to the measures adopted for preventing the spread of the coronavirus. “As per the advisory from the health ministry, N-95 masks with valves do not prevent the spread of Covid, as when you exhale, the expired air goes out of the valve in the N-95 mask. If the person wearing such a mask is infected, the virus can spread through the exhaled air into the atmosphere, which increases the risk of contamination of other people. Besides, though it was an advisory and a warning against the use of the valved N95 for the time being, we will consider the prohibition of its sale in the state,” Aggarwal said.