India's Covid-19 tally continues to rise with record cases; pressure on the country's medical infrastructure grows and non-severe patients are sent home acccording to guidelines, to recover in isolation. This has led to a sharp rise in the demand for at-home medical devices, such as infrared thermometers, inhalers and oximeters.
According to a report by the Indian Express, a Flipkart spokesperson said the demand for pulse oximeters rose by a whopping 23 times, along with the increase in demand of infrared therometres by 26 times, over the past six months.
1mg, an online pharmaceutical company, has registered a spike of 15 times in the sale of pulse oximeters in June, compared to the average sales of May. These are easy devices used to test oxygen levels or saturation in the blood by clipping them to the finger or ear.
Glucometers and inhalers also saw an increase of 90% and 80% respectively on 1mg in May.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare had issued revised guidelines regarding home isolation on May 10. And in a revision of its May 10 guidelines, the Central government has made 'home isolation' available as an option to asymptomatic, mild and pre-symptomatic cases, the report states.
Oxygen concentrators are in high demand but also suffer from supply issues, 1mg told IE. Supplements to aid immunity had already been registering a good sale, are now witnessing a 20% increase each month for the last three months. Chyawanprash, giloy, kadha and ashwagandha sales have increased by 25% each month in the same time period.
Prashant Tandon, 1mg's founder said in the report that no category of Covid solutions' sale was slowing down after the spikes.
The Flipkart spokesperson said that thermometers, scanners and thermal scanners were witnessing an increased demand amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to Google search trends, search popularity of oximeters, hand sanitisers and thermal scanners is also growing.
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