Protective gear in short supply: WHO

Countries rushed to protect their supply of masks yesterday as panic buying, hoarding and theft spread over fears of the deadly coronavirus epidemic, with global health officials warning that stocks of protective gear were rapidly dwindling.

The disease, which first emerged in China, is appearing in new countries almost every day, with Iran, Italy and South Korea facing growing caseloads.

The death toll in Italy soared to 79, with more than 2,500 people infected. A group of Italian tourists was placed in quarantine in India, with 17 testing positive for the virus as the total number of known cases in the country rose sharply to 28.

India's Health Minister Prakash Javadekar said 27,000 people had been placed under community surveillance.

One bright spot has been China's apparent progress in slowing the epidemic, with official figures showing new cases falling for a third straight day.

At least 3,217 people have died worldwide and 94,000 infected in 81 countries and territories, with Iraq, Spain reporting their first deaths from the disease yesterday while dozens have died so far in neighbouring Iran.

Iran reported 15 new deaths and 586 additional cases, bringing the overall toll to 92 dead and 2,922 infected.

Saudi Arabia yesterday suspended the year-round Umrah pilgrimage over fears of the new coronavirus spreading to the holy cities of Makkah and Medina, the interior ministry said.

The death rate is around 3.4 percent, much higher than the seasonal flu at under one percent, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

The vast majority of cases and fatalities have been in China where tens of millions of people have been placed under quarantine, but infections are rising faster abroad now, prompting countries to discourage large gatherings and cancel a slew of events.

The death toll in the United States climbed to nine, many linked to a nursing home near Seattle, while the overall number of infections shot past 100.

The WHO voiced concern that masks, goggles and other protective equipment used by health workers were running out due to "rising demand, hoarding and misuse".

"We can't stop COVID-19 without protecting our health workers," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters in Geneva, noting prices of masks have surged sixfold and the cost of ventilators has tripled.

Tedros said the WHO had shipped more than half a million sets of personal protective equipment to 27 countries, but warned that "supplies are rapidly depleting".

PANIC BUYING

At least 500 people queued up outside a supermarket in Seoul to buy masks yesterday, with President Moon Jae-in apologising for shortages this week.

South Korea makes 10 million masks a day and the government has ordered manufacturers to supply half their output to post offices, pharmacies, and a nationwide agricultural co-operative for sale at a fixed low price, with a five-per-person limit.

The virus has infected more than 5,600 people and killed 32 in South Korea, with more new daily cases there now than in China.

China reported 38 more deaths yesterday but only 119 new cases, its lowest number since January, with most infections in central Hubei province's capital Wuhan, where the virus was first detected in December.

There have now been 2,981 deaths in China and over 80,000 cases.

Indonesian police seized 600,000 face masks from a Jakarta-area warehouse after the country's first confirmed cases of coronavirus sparked panic buying and sent prices for prevention products skyrocketing.

Russia issued a decree yesterday banning the export of masks, respirators and hazmat suits to ensure access to the items for medics treating coronavirus patients and the public.

Germany's interior ministry said it had banned exports of medical protection gear such as masks and gloves to ensure that health workers in the country have enough to deal with the outbreak.

In Italy, a top civil protection official told AFP the country, which does not make face masks, is getting 800,000 of them from South Africa but needs at least 10 million more.

TWO CORONAVIRUS TYPES

Scientists in China studying the outbreak said they had found two main types of the disease could be causing infections.

The researchers, from Peking University's School of Life Sciences and the Institut Pasteur of Shanghai under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, cautioned that their analysis examined a limited range of data, and said follow-up studies of larger data sets are needed to better understand the virus's evolution.

The preliminary study found that a more aggressive type of the new coronavirus associated with the disease outbreak in Wuhan accounted for about 70% of analysed strains, while 30% was linked to a less aggressive type, reports Reuters.

The prevalence of the more aggressive virus decreased after early January 2020, they said.

"These findings strongly support an urgent need for further immediate, comprehensive studies that combine genomic data, epidemiological data, and chart records of the clinical symptoms of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)," they wrote.

Their findings were published on Tuesday in the National Science Review, the journal of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

One of China's top medical associations yesterday confirmed that the median incubation period of the coronavirus is five to seven days and the maximum 14 days.

The World Bank on Tuesday announced an initial $12 billion in immediate funds to assist countries grappling with the health and economic impacts of the outbreak.

World Bank President David Malpass said there were still "many unknowns" about the fast-spreading virus and "much more" aid might be required, but he declined to elaborate.

The announcement underscored escalating concern about the economic and human impact of the virus.