The head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said today at the media briefing on 2019 novel coronavirus that “global stocks of masks and respirators are now insufficient to meet the needs of WHO. There are now depleted stockpiles and backlogs of 4 to 6 months.”-he noted.

He said that the demand for masks and respirators increased 100 times, which provoked an increase in their cost by 20 times. “This situation has been exacerbated by widespread, inappropriate use of PPE outside patient care,” he explained.

The head of WHO noted that in conditions of a shortage of Personal protective equipment, first priority is health workers and secondly, patients and those who care for them. He urged not to accumulate personal protective equipment where there is a low level of infection.

As of February 7, there are 31,211 confirmed cases in China, and 637 deaths while 1764 patients were cured. Most of the infected are in China, the first outbreak was recorded at the end of December 2019 in Wuhan. In addition to China, cases have been reported in more than 20 countries.