Wuhan calls for more material help to deal with virus

Although huge amounts of medical resources are pouring into Wuhan, the center of the new viral outbreak, the local government on Saturday called for more material support such as masks and protective clothing.

"We're facing a particularly serious public safety and health emergency. Materials for protection and medical treatment are in urgent need," Hu Yinghai, deputy director of the Department of Civil Affairs of Hubei, said at a news conference.

As of Saturday noon, the country's central medical reserve had sent 14,000 protection suits and 110,000 pairs of medical gloves to Wuhan. It also helped to arrange the purchase of 3 million masks, 100,000 protection suits and 2,180 pairs of goggles for the city, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

From social donations, the Hubei Charity Federation had received more than 1.2 million masks and other materials for epidemic prevention and control by Friday midnight. The organization also received donated funds of more than 30 million yuan ($4.32 million), Hu said.

These materials have been allocated to hospitals and some public transport stations, and the funds will be delivered and used as soon as possible, he said.

However, these materials are not enough. "We'll make every effort to organize and mobilize the whole society, at home and abroad, to carry out special donations of emergency medical materials and relevant medicines," Hu said.

Some materials are in urgent need, such as medical protective clothing, the N95 masks, medical masks, protective masks, positive pressure isolation clothing, goggles and disinfectant, he said.

Hubei Charity Federation and the Red Cross Society of Hubei are designated to receive donations. Materials unrelated to the epidemic prevention and control work will not be accepted at the moment.

The public can supervise the usage of the donated materials, and the provincial headquarters of the epidemic prevention and control work is the unified organization to allocate the materials to hospitals and other medical treatment institutions, Hu said.

Since Friday, traffic control authorities in Hubei have taken measures to speed up the flow of necessary medical personnel and materials, such as giving a green light to the transportation of emergency materials.