The monthly consumption of facial masks and medical gloves has been reported to be around 129 billion and 65 billion, respectively, for 7.8 billion populations across the globe. According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), the daily usage of medical kits has reached a staggering level even in the areas with relatively low confirmed COVID-19 cases in the UK. For instance, around 39,500 facials masks, 11,500 medical gloves, 1500 gowns, and 4200 filtering facepiece respiratory masks (FFP3) have been used in the UK during February 2020. Further, the estimated demand in the UK ranges in between 10 and 16 million PPEs per day despite the current supply of 14 million PPEs per day by the government. The Freedonia Group, a leading market research firm based in the US, has estimated an increased growth rate of around 312% in the present demand of face shields during the pandemic. At the same time, the demand for medical gloves is expected to increase by 12.5% in 2020 in countries prlike China with such a high population as per the estimate. Alone in China, the production of face masks soared up to 116 million in February 2020, which was 12 times greater than the previous month, i.e., January 2020. Given the total population of China is more than 1.4 billion, the gap between the rising demand and associated supply has been reported to be substantial during the pandemic.
This trend is of no exception in other countries, where the increase in the number of coronavirus cases has propelled the upsurge in demand for PPES along with rising safety awareness.