Disinfectants that help prevent the spread of coronavirus have been flying off store shelves. So, when will these products expected to be restocked and back in stores?
Experts told CNN and USA Today it could be a few more months before high demand items like wipes and hand sanitizers are available in stores again.
Both reports said sales of aerosol disinfectants multipurpose cleaners significantly jumped from a year ago, but still, people are scouring the internet and store shelves for more products.
Companies like Lysol and Clorox were not prepared for the pandemic. Patrick Penfield, a professor of supply chain management at Syracuse University, told CNN that he didn't expect supplies to be restocked on shelves until July.
Tom Derry, CEO of the Institute for Supply Management, told USA Today in March that he predicted by mid-May, supply chains should return to normal and by June, out-of-stock disinfectants should begin reappearing on store shelves
A key issue is that manufacturers can't keep up with demand because many base ingredient chemicals come from China.
"One of the issues is that they can't get enough ingredients for the disinfectants, the wipes, and that's been their biggest issue. Most of those ingredients, the base ingredients, they actually come over from overseas and specifically China," Penfield said to CNN.
He added: "For them it's really difficult and they're running their factories, nonstop right now and trust me when I say this, their preference would be to meet demand but they just can't because they can't get all the ingredients in order to make the actual product."
Reckitt Benckiser Group, the manufacturer of Lysol, Dettol and Sagrotan said in a statement it is working on "maximizing supply and production to ensure access and availability for consumers, especially to meet the strong and urgent need for sanitizing and germ-kill products."
USA Today reported corner stores and local drugstores might not be restocked anytime soon, but the best place to check for products is warehouse stores like Costco and Sam's Club or major retailers and grocery stores like Walmart, Ralph's or Publix Super Markets.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released information about other sterilization methods that individuals can use during the coronavirus outbreak, like using alcohol solutions with at least 70% alcohol or diluted household bleach solutions.