• A cashier counts money behind bottles of hand sanitizers at a medical supply shop in Jakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday, March 4, 2020. Indonesia confirmed its first cases of the coronavirus Monday in two people who contracted the illness from a foreign traveler. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

  • Hand sanitizers sit at the entrance to the El Barretal shelter, which is housing thousands of Central American migrants in Tijuana on Tuesday, December 4, 2018. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

  • A sign on a shelf at a QFC grocery store in Kirkland, Wash., advises shoppers Tuesday, March 3, 2020 that all hand sanitizer products are sold out. Fear of the coronavirus has led people to stock up on the germ-killing gel, leaving store shelves empty and online retailers with sky-high prices set by those trying to profit on the rush. The store is located near the Life Care Center of Kirkland, which has been tied to several cases of the COVID-19 coronavirus. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

  • Purell hand sanitizer has been in short supply in the LA area due to hoarding propted by coronavirus fears, but a couple of bottles were available at Harrold’s Pharmacy in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., on Wednesday, March 4, 2020. (Mark Moran/The Citizens’ Voice via AP)

  • Shelves that previously held masks and respirators are bare at a Home Depot Store in Seattle, Tuesday, March 3, 2020. In addition to the shortages of hand sanitizer, hospitals are more concerned about a shortage of face masks, which people have been snatching up despite pleas from health officials. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

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Coronavirus concerns have spiked hand sanitizer by two-thirds, according to one analysis.

Retailing experts at NPD Group estimate hand sanitizer sales nationwide grew to $14 million in the four weeks ending February 22, a 67% jump vs. the same period in 2019. Online sales grew 170% in the same period. Hand wipes’ sales rose 11% overall and 47% online.

NPD’s analysis says the sales jump followed “the World Health Organization’s announcement on Jan. 30 declaring the (coronavirus) outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.” Hand sanitizer was widely mentioned by health experts as one tool for limiting the spread of the virus.

Shoppers soon were rushing to stores to stockpile health-related goods such as hand sanitizers, toilet paper and bottled water. Online merchants such a giant Amazon saw their supplies seriously depleted in the same buying surge.

Costco’s Chief Financial Officer Richard Galanti, in a call with investors, described the buying frenzy as “off the charts” throughout the U.S.

The binge buying added up to hand sanitizer sales equaling roughly one-quarter of all retail hand cleaner sales in the period, by NPD’s math.

And it’s not just consumers rushing to buy, NPD reports. Commercial sales to businesses jumped 28% in January vs. the year-ago period.

“If we look more broadly over the past 26 weeks, sales of hand sanitizers and hand wipes have seen a lift in sales coinciding with the progression of flu season and coronavirus developments, as families, companies, and schools boost their efforts to stay healthy. Hand sanitizer sales have surpassed where they were during the 2017-2018 flu season, which the CDC reported as the most severe season since 2003-2004,” the report quoted NPD analyst Leen Nsouli saying.