Prices of surgical masks have increased 6-fold. FMTNews Coronavirus
GENEVA: The World Health Organization said Tuesday that understanding how the new coronavirus spreads was rapidly increasing, but warned the protective gear needed to fight the disease was “rapidly depleting”.
“We are concerned that countries’ abilities to respond are being compromised by the severe and increasing disruption to the global supply of personal protective equipment … caused by rising demand, hoarding and misuse,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters in Geneva.The prices of surgical masks have increased six-fold, while the cost for ventilators had tripled, he added.
He urged a dramatic hike in production, saying WHO estimates the response to Covid-19 would require 89 million medical masks, 76 million pairs of examination gloves and 1.6 million goggles each month. But with more data, there was a growing understanding of the virus and how it spreads, he said, stressing that the new virus was “unique”.“More people are susceptible to infection and some will suffer serious disease. Globally about 3.4% of Covid-19 cases have died,” he said.And while many people have over the years built up immunity to seasonal flu, “no one has immunity” to the new coronavirus, he acknowledged.
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