Global calls are mounting for restrictions to prevent the panic-buying of protective health equipment amid concern over shortages, as the World Health Organization called on governments and industry to increase production by 40% to help counter the spread of coronavirus.

As France issued a decree to requisition masks for key health workers and those suffering from the disease, other countries warned that stocks of masks and other equipment were running low in some of the worst-affected locations, with suppliers unable to meet demand.

French health officials say around 8,300 masks and 1,200 bottles of sanitising health gel have been stolen from Paris hospitals. Another 2,000 surgery masks have disappeared from a hospital in Marseille. The French government said it would take legal measures on Wednesday to rein in the soaring price being demanded for bottles of hand gel.

In India, meanwhile, the outbreak has led authorities to restrict the export of dozens of drugs, including paracetamol and various antibiotics, leading to fears of a global shortage of essential medicines.

Exacerbating the problem around the world is the fact that China, which has been worst-affected by coronavirus, is the world’s biggest supplier of protective masks for medical use, producing half of the masks used around the globe.

Based on WHO estimates, about 89m medical masks will be required for the coronavirus response each month as well as 76m sterile examination gloves and 1.6m pairs of goggles.

The shortages are replicating on a global scale the same issues seen in China as its outbreak started.

Some of the most serious shortages of medical supplies are reportedly being experienced in Iran, where 92 people have died and almost 3,000 have been infected in an outbreak many experts fear is still being under-reported.

A jump in local Chinese demand for protective equipment to deal with the outbreak concentrated in Hubei province coincided with factory closures both because of the outbreak and the lunar new year holidays and prompted China to cut exports. A similar situation also occurred with chemicals used to make key drugs.

The Japanese technology giant Sharp announced it would begin producing masks at one of its television factories to help ease shortages.

South Korea – which reported 435 new infections on Wednesday – was struggling to find enough beds for its sick, while Italy also grappled with a rising number of deaths, with 45 fatalities on Tuesday, bringing its total to 79.

Poland reported its first case on Wednesday and India said its number of confirmed coronavirus cases had risen to 28, up from just five, with one cluster of cases centred around a large group of Italian tourists who had entered India on 21 February.

As similar warnings of shortages of equipment emerged in Australia, Germany and the US, the WHO warned that the disruption to the global supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) – caused by rising demand, panic-buying, hoarding and misuse – was putting lives at risk both from the new coronavirus and other infectious diseases.

Q&A How can I protect myself and others from the coronavirus outbreak? Show Hide The World Health Organization is recommending that people take simple precautions to reduce exposure to and transmission of the coronavirus, for which there is no specific cure or vaccine. The UN agency advises people to: Frequently wash their hands with an alcohol-based hand rub or warm water and soap

Cover their mouth and nose with a flexed elbow or tissue when sneezing or coughing

Avoid close contact with anyone who has a fever or cough

Seek early medical help if they have a fever, cough and difficulty breathing, and share their travel history with healthcare providers

Advice about face masks varies. Wearing them while out and about may offer some protection against both spreading and catching the virus via coughs and sneezes, but it is not a cast-iron guarantee of protection Many countries are now enforcing or recommending curfews or lockdowns. Check with your local authorities for up-to-date information about the situation in your area. In the UK, NHS advice is that anyone with symptoms should stay at home for at least 7 days. If you live with other people, they should stay at home for at least 14 days, to avoid spreading the infection outside the home.

“Without secure supply chains, the risk to healthcare workers around the world is real. Industry and governments must act quickly to boost supply, ease export restrictions and put measures in place to stop speculation and hoarding,” said the WHO director general, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, amid warnings that the UN organisation’s own emergency stockpiles were dwindling.

“We can’t stop Covid-19 without protecting health workers first.”

Since the start of the outbreak, prices have surged. There has been a sixfold increase in the price of surgical masks, the cost of N95 respirators has trebled and that of gowns doubled. Supplies can take months to deliver and market manipulation is widespread, with stocks frequently sold to the highest bidder.

The WHO has so far shipped nearly half a million sets of personal protective equipment to 47 countries.

Panic-buying in the US led the surgeon general to appeal on Twitter, begging people to stop buying masks, even as the authorities on the west coast, centre of the worst outbreak, began issuing protective equipment from emergency stockpiles to health workers.

Advice to health managers on the US Centers for Disease Control website, updated at the end of February, suggests, in a worst-case scenario, rationing and reusing masks, using equipment whose shelf-life has expired or that falls short of agreed US standards for protection.

The news that France would requisition all current and future stocks of protective masks followed a tweet from the French president, Emmanuel Macron.

The official decree ordered that any masks held by “any legal person governed by public or private law” be surrendered.

Profile What is the World Health Organization? Show Hide The World Health Organization (WHO) was founded on the 7 April 1948, a date celebrated annually as World Health Day. As an agency of the United Nations, the organisation has developed into an international establishment which involves 150 countries and employs 7,000 people. WHO is responsible for the World Health Report and the World Health Survey. Since its establishment it has played a fundamental role in the eradication of smallpox, and currently prioritises diseases including HIV/AIDs, Ebola, Malaria and Tuberculosis. WHO takes a global responsibility for the co-ordinated management and handling of outbreaks of new and dangerous health threats - like the Covid-19 coronavirus. The current WHO director general is Dr Tedros Adhamon Ghebreyesus, elected for a five year term in 2017. Prior to his election, Dr Tedros served as Ethiopia’s minister for foreign affairs. He also served as minister of Health for Ethiopia from 2005-2012 where he led extensive reform to the country’s health system. WHO's handling of the global pandemic has been criticised by US president Donald Trump, who announced in April that the US will no longer contribute to funding the agency. Grace Mainwaring and Martin Belam

The French economy minister, Bruno Le Maire, also announced on Wednesday morning that authorities would seek to rein in the price of hand gel after some shops and pharmacies increased the cost of bottles to an “unacceptable” level. It was also confirmed that five members of the same family caught the virus after attending an evangelical church service at Mulhouse in eastern France.

Australia has had its own unique issue, with the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) saying that the recent bushfires had led to face mask shortages in some areas as people had used them to protect against smoke inhalation. This had been exacerbated by price-gouging by wholesalers.







