Based on best practice, we should be going through probably 3000-6000 (very rough estimate number) masks a day during this time. If you think it is affordable to be spending $3000-$6000 on ONLY MASKS, you obviously know nothing about economics.
Yes, there is a shortage. Yes, there is price gouging. Yes, there are people taking advantage of the situation and making a lot of money because of it and therefore causing deaths. Thankfully I don't do the purchasing for my facility so I'm not fully in the know but my understanding is that the real regular vendors (both national companies like Medline and the more local companies like Tristate, Gerimedix, etc) are BARELY raising their prices. Same as how Costco, Walgreens, etc have not risen their price. It's the guys that are buying out the market and hoarding that is raising the prices like crazy and further creating shortages.
BTW I'm in a midsize nursing facility (~200 beds) in NYC but do have a certified vent unit as well as about 35 contact precautions and 15 droplet precautions (just to put the above numbers into perspective). A large facility or hospital could be going thru tens of thousands or even hundred of thousands masks a day.