As the supply of surgical masks runs low in stores amid growing fears of the new coronavirus from China, some have attempted to profit from the situation by reselling them online at far higher than retail prices.

Manufacturers are running at full throttle to produce enough masks to meet snowballing demand, but many consumers have been unable to find them in drugstores or convenience stores, which normally have a variety in stock ahead of the hay fever season.

A pharmacy near Shimbashi Station in central Tokyo posted a warning that it would sell each customer or group no more than two bags of masks, a measure intended to prevent people from buying large quantities and reselling them for profit.