With nearly 100,000 cases of the Wuhan coronavirus (CoVid-19) now being reported across the globe, many people here in the U.S. are beginning to recognize the need to get prepared with things like medical face masks, gloves, respirators, goggles, face shields, gowns, and aprons. But they could have a difficult time finding many of these items since much of the rest of the world has already bought out available supplies.
It appears as though President Trump is more concerned with people buying stocks than with buying emergency supplies, which is setting up large swaths of our country to be sitting ducks when the supply lines run completely dry. We're not there yet, of course, but that time could come very soon.
According to Dr. Ghebreyesus, the WHO is very concerned about countries at large lacking the supplies they need even for emergency medical services. Severe and increasing disruption to the global supply of personal protective equipment, which is actually being exacerbated by people buying up all of the hand sanitizer and toilet paper at places like Costco, threatens to leave doctors, nurses, and other frontline healthcare workers "dangerously ill-equipped to care for CoVid-19 patients," he warns.
Listen below as Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, gives his own emergency Wuhan coronavirus (CoVid-19) pandemic update:
Prices for emergency supplies are skyrocketing, WHO warns
Because of rising demand, hoarding, and even misuse of emergency medical equipment, prices for these items are skyrocketing. Surgical masks, for instance, have increased in price by six-fold, while N-95 respirators have more than tripled in price. Emergency gowns have also reportedly doubled due to the Wuhan coronavirus (CoVid-19) crisis.
There's also the problem of actually getting these items once you've paid for them, seeing as how global supply chains are collapsing. Market manipulation is also "widespread," Dr. Ghebreyesus warns, and "stocks are often sold to the highest bidder," meaning whoever can pay the most gets the products.
The WHO has already shipped about half a million sets of personal protective equipment to some 47 different countries, but its supplies are decreasing. In order to maintain an effective response to the Wuhan coronavirus (CoVid-19), however, there will have to be continued production at levels that, unfortunately, may not be possible.
According to the WHO's estimates, at least 89 million new medical masks will need to be made every single month, along with 76 million examination gloves and 1.6 million goggles, in order to keep up with the pandemic. The WHO has also issued its own guidelines as to how to ration the use of these items in order to ensure that enough of them are available for everybody who needs them.
"We're also working with governments, manufacturers and the Pandemic Supply Chain Network to boost production and secure supplies for critically affected and at-risk countries," Dr. Ghebreyesus added. "Globally, it is estimated that PPE supplies need to be increased by 40 percent."
"We continue to call on manufacturers to urgently increase production to meet this demand and guarantee supplies," he added, noting that the WHO cannot meet these goals alone and needs cooperation among all relevant parties.
For more related news about the Wuhan coronavirus (CoVid-19), be sure to check out Pandemic.news.
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