Published 12:34 IST, February 9th 2020
China warns against 'excessive' use of protective suits amid coronavirus outbreak
China is facing a severe dearth of equipment including suits, masks, and testing kits for the medics, the access is reserved for patients with severe symptoms.
An advisory for the "reasonable use" of protective suits for safety against coronavirus has reportedly been issued on Sunday by the China's National Health Commission that cautioned against "excessive and disorderly" use of the clothing that would waste resources and could also increase infection amid the intensifying global spread of the disease that has claimed more than 800 lives.
The statement has been issued as China is facing a severe dearth of equipment including suits, masks, goggles and testing kits for the medics, and the access is reserved for patients with severe symptoms only, suggest reports.
According to the reports, the supplies of protective clothing has boosted over the past few days, however, they still aren’t sufficient for the patients flooding the hospitals. The shortage of equipment and coronavirus test kits is reportedly delaying the diagnosis in Wuhan as well as in the surrounding area of Hubei province where the virus has hit severely.
People in Wuhan remained perplexed over the scarcity of equipment
Another report suggests that people in the City of Wuhan remained perplexed over the scarcity of equipment, An Jianhua, a 67-year-old who was feared to have contracted the coronavirus had waited 7 hours outside the city hospital in Wuhan to test for the virus, however, she told the reporters that the hospital was short of kits and had no space to test her.
She further revealed that she was referred to another hospital in Wuhan that was not only overcrowded but due to lack of testing kits, the doctors could manage to get an intravenous drip for her. He Jun, her son told the media that despite pacing to several hospitals in a week, his mother had to be quarantined at home and her health was rapidly declining and he had to watch her struggle and die, there was no hope.
The coronavirus was first reported last December and is now a global health emergency of international concern with several cases of deaths and infections reported worldwide. In China, cities have been sealed off, millions have been quarantined as the authorities rush to build several new hospitals in Wuhan to accommodate the soaring number of patients.
Updated 12:34 IST, February 9th 2020