Health Desk- 4th Feb,
2020: China said Monday it urgently needed medical equipment and surgical
masks as the death toll from a new coronavirus jumped above 360, making it more
deadly than the SARS crisis nearly two decades ago, reports AFP.
The 57 new deaths confirmed on Monday was the single-biggest
daily increase since the virus was detected late last year in the central city
of Wuhan, where it is believed to have jumped from animals at a market into
humans.
The virus has since spread to more than 24 countries despite
many governments imposing unprecedented travel bans on arrivals coming from
China.
The World Health Organization has declared the crisis a
global health emergency, and the first foreign death from the virus was
confirmed in the Philippines on Sunday.
“What China urgently needs at present are medical masks,
protective suits, and safety goggles,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua
Chunying told a press briefing.
Authorities in provinces that are home to more than 300
million people—including Guangdong, the country’s most populous—have ordered
everyone to wear masks in public in an effort to contain the virus.
But factories capable of producing around 20 million masks a
day are only operating at between 60 and 70 percent of capacity, industry
department spokesman Tian Yulong said, adding that supply and demand remained
in “tight equilibrium” as a result of the Lunar New Year break.
All but one of the 57 new deaths reported Monday were in
Wuhan and the rest of Hubei province, most of which has been under lockdown for
almost two weeks.
The national death toll reached 361 — exceeding the 349
mainland fatalities from the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak
of 2002-03.
The number of infections also jumped significantly, passing
17,200.
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