Chinese officials disclosed Sunday that the coronavirus outbreak is hitting travel by double digits, while the medical industry is rushing to meet heightened demand.
At a special press conference on Sunday, Chinese officials indicated the coronavirus outbreak will remain an issue for the near future.
"We face a severe shortage of supplies given the demand," Wang Jiangping, vice minister of industry and information technology, said Sunday, according to an official translation of his Mandarin-language remarks. The immediate impact was visible in a drop in the flow of passengers. In an effort to prevent the virus from spreading, the government has encouraged people to stay at home, cancelled major public events and restricted travel for tens of millions.Overall travel on Saturday, the first day of the Lunar New Year, dropped 28.8% from a year ago, said Liu Xiaoming, vice minister of transport.
Wang noted a particular shortage of protective suits and face masks, especially in Wuhan. For example, Wang said about 100,000 protective suits are needed a day, but daily production capacity is at best in the low tens of thousands.
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