Coronavirus: World facing ‘chronic’ shortage of protective equipment against deadly virus, WHO says
Rate of infections in China has decreased over past few days, health official says
Support truly
independent journalism
Our mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.
Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.
Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.
![Louise Thomas](https://static.independent.co.uk/static-assets/support-us/louise-thomas.png)
Louise Thomas
Editor
The world is facing a shortage of gowns, masks and gloves in the fight to halt the spread of the coronavirus outbreak, according to the World Health Organisation.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO’s director general, said protective equipment has been sent to every region to help fight the outbreak.
“However the world is facing a chronic shortage of personnel protective equipment, as you might imagine,” he said.
He also said that the rate of infections within China had slowed over the last two days, but that “the numbers could go up again”.
Authorities have built a new hospital in Wuhan, the Chinese city where the disease originated, to deal with epidemic.
There are over 30,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus around the world, with over 600 deaths having been reported, the vast majority in China.
Three people have been diagnosed with the virus – which gives flu-like symptoms but can develop into pneumonia – in the UK.
Meanwhile, a British national is reportedly being treated for the disease after being tested on a quarantined ship off the coast of Japan.
WHO has declared an international health emergency over what it called an “unprecedented outbreak”.
The director general of the United Nation’s health body also urged countries to share detailed case reports with the organisation “immediately”.
Additional reporting by Reuters
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments