All stocked up, no need to resort to panic-buying

KUALA LUMPUR: There are sufficient supplies of Covid-19 necessities at pharmacies, assures Malaysian Pharmacists Society president Amrahi Buang.

“At the moment, the situation is under control,” he said while advising the public to not rush into panic-buying in view of the rising Covid-19 cases in the country.He said there were no complaints from members in regard to stock availability matters.

“The stocks are stable; do not destabilise them (by panic buying),” he said when contacted.

Amrahi said people have learnt about self-care during the pandemic and it is important to go back to the basics.

“If you have symptoms related to respiratory issues, do the (necessary) check first and report to MySejahtera if the result is positive. We suspect the total number (of Covid-19 cases) is under-reported and the figure we got from the Health Ministry is only those that were reported to MySejahtera,” he said, urging the public to be calm and carry out necessary precautionary measures.

A check at some pharmacies, groceries and convenience stores here found that there was a sufficient supply of Covid-19 test kits and face masks. An outlet of a pharmacy chain said the stocks have been stable so far.

“There is no panic-buying or unusual increase in demand for test kits. We replenish our stocks according to the need,” said the pharmacist on condition of anonymity.

According to the KKMNow portal, a total of 15,327 Covid-19 cases were reported this year, as of Dec 2.

Of these, 318 were hospitalised while eight were warded in the Intensive Care Unit, with five patients being put on ventilators. The remaining were under home quarantine.

In a statement on Dec 7, Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa said despite an increase in cases, the current Covid-19 situation in Malaysia is still under control.

She said that reports from other nations also indicate the upward trend, which is observed at the end of each year.