Face mask sales soar as swine flu panic sweeps the Lothians

Published on Thursday 30 April 2009 09:41

SWINE flu panic is sweeping the Lothians as sales of face masks soar and health chiefs are bombarded with calls from worried residents.

One Edinburgh store has reported selling 150 face masks in the past two days as fears grow of a worldwide pandemic.

It comes as the Scottish Government announced it was investigating more suspected infections in the Lothians, on top of honeymoon couple Pete and Jennifer Marshall, who have been quarantined to their Gorgie home.

NHS Lothian said people had heeded warnings not to turn up at accident and emergency with suspected flu symptoms and were instead going in their droves to NHS 24, which has called in extra staff to absorb the demand.

At the Hewat of Edinburgh uniform store on Teviot Place, shop management said the rise in sales of the 50p face mask reminded them of the bird flu scare.

Manager Dianne Smith said: "As soon as the news came through at the weekend we ordered in some more because we knew what would happen.

"We've had a lot of people coming in saying they're quite concerned and would like a mask, others are quite embarrassed and claim it is for a friend.

"During the bird flu scare, we sold around 200 packs of 50 masks, and we expect that to be the same this time around so we have ordered more in."

But chief medical officer Harry Burns said face masks offered little protection.

The Scottish Government has upped the ante in terms of warnings and awareness, with a widely circulated advert appearing in newspapers, including the Evening News, today warning people to cover their mouth and nose when they sneeze.

Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said 13 out of the 23 suspected cases in the country had turned out to be negative, with results still pending for the others. In addition, 24 fresh cases caused enough suspicion to be reported yesterday, including eight in the Lothians.

"At this stage, our top priority is to disrupt the spread of infection," she said. "We are therefore treating all suspected cases in line with the precautionary principle. That means they are assumed to be positive until they are shown to be negative."

NHS24 medical director Dr George Crooks said: "The latest figures show NHS 24 is currently receiving around 23 per cent more calls than forecast. However, only a small number of these calls relate to people with flu-like symptoms who have returned from affected areas abroad."

Former GP and Lothians MSP Ian McKee also sought to water down the panic, stating: "I wouldn't advise anyone to buy any antiviral drugs over the internet.

"There is plenty treatment for around half the population and more will be produced."

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