Sales of toys are surging in South Korea as children stay home longer and people pay more attention to their health due to the prolonged scare over COVID-19, a respiratory disease caused by a new coronavirus, industry sources said.

Online shopping site Auction said its sales of toys for toddlers and children skyrocketed from a year earlier in the seven-day period to Feb. 9.

Sales of ball tents and toy blocks surged 285 percent and 72 percent, respectively, with those of mobile toys like cars and airplanes soaring 116 percent.

Another online vendor, Gmarket, saw sales of slides and toy blocks spike 111 percent and 106 percent, respectively, over the cited period. (Yonhap)