Balochistan: Citizens resort to panic buying of oxygen cylinders amid coronavirus fears

• Scores of people in Balochistan are buying and storing oxygen cylinders amid looming fears of the coronavirus.
  
• The panic buying has created a shortage of oxygen cylinders in city markets. 
• It has also increased the prices of cylinders and oxygen throughout the province.

In Balochistan, the rising fear of the coronavirus has triggered panic buying among citizens, who are purchasing and storing oxygen cylinders as the third wave of the virus intensifies, Geo News reported on Tuesday.

As per sources in several markets, the sale of oxygen cylinders in Balochistan have spiked dramatically due to rising cases of the coronavirus.

Read more: Despite abundance, prices of masks and sanitisers remain high in Peshawar

A large number of people have bought and saved oxygen cylinders, fearing the coronavirus. The move has created a shortage of oxygen cylinders in markets across several cities in the province and led to an increase in the prices of oxygen cylinders overall.

Market sources noted that the price of a large cylinder sold which was being sold for Rs17,000 a month earlier has gone up to Rs25,000 while the price of an oxygen cylinder which was being sold for Rs8,000 has gone up to Rs15,000. 

Meanwhile, the oxygen cylinders that were refilled for Rs500 previously are now being refilled for Rs800 after the surge in demand from consumers.