By Mark Price | Charlotte Observer
Add condoms to the list of things that might be harder to find as more Americans shelter in place amid the coronavirus outbreak.
There may even be a “coronavirus baby boom,” some experts say, proving not everyone is practicing social distancing.
Hints of heightened interest in condoms first emerged last month in China, where the virus was first reported.
Condomsales.com reported March 3 that stores were seeing “shortages in Singapore and Hong Kong.” The e-commerce platform Pinduoduo noted quarantine measures in China fueled a jump in sales of condoms and hair clippers, according to abacusnews.com.
One reason for the condom rush in Asia: Some people were wearing them on their fingers, after rumors spread on social media the practice could protect you from the coronavirus, The Mirror reported.
It’s coincidental, but also important that hard-hit Asia is home to “the world’s largest condom maker,” the Karex company in Malaysia, according to Forbes. Any slowdown in manufacturing there could have global implications.
Condom sales have reportedly been increasing in the United States since coronavirus cases were first diagnosed on the West Coast, where a growing number of shelter-in-place orders are in place.
Such orders bind Americans to their homes, except in cases of “essential business” and health needs.
Seven million people are currently under a three-week shelter order in the San Francisco Bay area, and large urban areas like New York City are reportedly considering it, McClatchy News reported this week.
The betting odds site SportsBettingDime.com went so far as to release odds of a Trojan condom stock boom amid the pandemic. “You can bet on the population getting down to business while stuck inside their homes for the next couple of months,” the site says.
Dr. Mehmet Oz told TMZ couples should have sex while they’re quarantined. “You’ll live longer, get rid of the tension. … Maybe you’ll make some babies.”
A jump in birth rates has often followed cataclysmic events and natural disasters that forced Americans to stay indoors, The Associated Press reported.
Some experts expect the coronavirus to do the same, making a baby boom possible in December, news outlets report.
“It’s probably going to be the biggest baby boom we’ve seen,” Dr. Kevin Kathrotia of Millennium Neonatology told FOX Business on Monday. “Anytime there’s the threat of a hurricane, there’s a little baby boom. … There’s going to be kids in nine months, I can assure you.”
