By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter
Flu-themed products such as surgical masks and hand sanitizers have been making money for online shopping sites over the past months, showing that one man's pandemic is another man's cash opportunity.
And the recent revelation that masks are selling quicker than hand sanitizers on the Internet may indicate that fears over the H1N1 influenza are growing even larger.
According to Auction (www.auction.co.kr), the country's biggest online retail and auction site, the sales of masks have begun to outpace hand sanitizers in volume, with the flu pandemic recently taking a stronger hold of the country.
The sales of masks were 70 percent those of hand sanitizers at the start of last month. This month, however, the sales of masks tripled those of hand sanitizers, Auction officials said.
``The flu is spreading in gathering places such as schools and it seems that more customers are regarding masks as essential items for this winter,'' said an Auction official.
``The flu outbreak was weaker during the spring and summer, and the warmer weather had many refraining from wearing masks. However, with the temperatures dipping, more people are looking for masks, which are also popular items as presents. We are getting a lot of orders from nursery schools, kindergartens and private tutoring institutes as well.''
In April, 58 percent of the masks sold by Auction were ordered from the Web site's sports and leisure corner. However, 52 percent of the masks sold this week were ordered from the ``Living and Health'' corner, Auction officials said.
The flu outbreak seems to be reaching a new peak, with an average of 8,800 new cases confirmed every day last week, compared to the average of 4,400 cases in the previous week. Since mid-August, when the pandemic began taking hold, there have been 45 deaths in the country.