Distributors warn of rising prices, demand for PPE as COVID-19 outbreak continues

ORLANDO, Fla. — At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, critical supplies such as masks and gloves became increasingly expensive and difficult to find as the country and the world struggled to control the virus.

Now, distributors say it is happening again.

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“Last spring, right all before the surge, you can get masks wholesale. Like my company was able to get masks around half a penny mask; now it’s gone up to five times that, so we’re seeing 500% increase within two weeks, so that is troubling,” said WeShield founder and CEO Michael Sinensky. “Not only are you running out of supply here but what is coming in overseas, the shipping, the containers, all of that has skyrocketed as well.”

On its Medical Device Shortage page, the FDA lists everything from masks, to gloves, to gowns as being “Limited Supply Available,” an indication of the demand as COVID-19 cases climb in Florida and across much of the southeastern U.S.

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“There can be no question that many Florida hospitals are stretched to their absolute limits,” wrote Mary C. Mayhew, president and CEO of the Florida Hospital Association, in a release this week. “While hospitalizations continue to increase, three out of four Florida hospitals expect to face critical staff shortages in the next seven days, an increase of nearly 10% since last week, and half of our hospitals will no longer accept transfer patients from other facilities.”