GENEVA: Demand for masks, gowns, gloves and other protective gear has risen up to 100-fold and prices have soared due to the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), producing a “severe” disruption in global supply, the World Health Organisation (WHO) chief said on Friday. The situation has been made worse by people who are not medical workers buying the protective gear for their own use, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. “Demand is up to 100 times higher than normal and prices are up to 20 times higher,” and the rush has created supply backlogs of 4-6 months, he added. Frontline health workers in China, where 31,211 confirmed cases of coronavirus have been reported, need the bulk of such supplies, he said. Chinese authorities have provided some detailed data with a breakdown of 17,000 cases, WHO epidemiologist Dr. Maria van Kerkhove said.

Source: New Strait Times February 08, 2020 02:03 UTC