SALES of masks are surging again, with some stores selling tens of thousands each week.

The Guardian Health & Beauty chain of pharmacies, for instance, now sees 50,000 masks fly off its shelves each week, 20 times more than in the days before H1N1.

Sales at NTUC Healthcare Unity pharmacies are also off the charts - the chain declined to give numbers, but said numbers far exceed those in the weeks before H1N1 began spreading in the community.

Please read the full story in Friday's edition of The Straits Times.

limjess@sph.com.sg