CHINA’S president has warned of a “grave situation” as he said the killer coronavirus was “accelerating its speed”.
Xi Jinping held a special government meeting yesterday to discuss the spread of virus that has killed 54 people and infected more than 1,600 globally.
Resources and experts will be placed at designated hospitals to tackle the virus and supplies to the Hubei province, where the virus originated, will be guaranteed and cost won’t be a hindrance, according to the TV report.
The government has sent 450 military medical staff, including those who have experience in fighting against SARS or Ebola, according to People’s Daily.
Medical staff are wearing adult diapers because they don’t have time to use the toilet in between treating patients, it has been reported.
Wuhan, a city with about 11million people in the Hubei province, has been on lockdown since Thursday after it is believed the virus originated at meat market in December.
At least 56million people in 18 cities are now on lockdown in China as the virus killed 54 people in the country.
Distressing video and photos show how staff have been overwhelmed with the patients flooding into over-crowded hospitals.
One unverified video reportedly filmed by a nurse in a Wuhan hospital appears to show overcrowded hallways and staff in fully-protective body suits allegedly stepping over three dead bodies.
The nurse wrote that staff and patients were “stuck” with the bodies, which are covered by white sheets, because no one is available to take them away.
Overworked medical staff are also wearing diapers because they don’t have time to use the toilet and others do so because they fear ripping off their hazmat suits when supplies are already so low, the Washington Post reported.
A Wuhan Union Hospital doctor who identified himself as Mr Do on Weibo wrote: “We know that the protective suit we wear could be the last one we have, and we can’t afford to waste anything.”
Authorities in Wuhan, the ground zero of the outbreak, announced yesterday they were building a 1,000-bed hospital in a matter of days.
A second emergency hospital is going to build within weeks and house 1,300 beds, according to the People’s Daily.
Chinese authorities have already scrapped Lunar New Year celebrations for today to prevent the spread of the highly-contagious virus.
Major tourist attractions such as Shanghai’s Disneyland theme park, the Badling section of the Great Wall of China and Beijing’s Forbidden City is also shut today.
Residents 14 cities in the Hubei province, which is where the epicentre of the outbreak, have been banned from travelling, according to state-run Global Times.
Seven million people in Huanggang have been told not to leave after there were confirmed cases.
And at least one million residents in Ezhou are unable to travel after the rail stations were shut.
