WUHAN, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- The second hardest-hit city in central China's Hubei province faces a shortage of medical experts and protective gear in its fight against the novel coronavirus outbreak, local authorities said Friday.
Xiaogan, which neighbors Wuhan, the provincial capital and center of the outbreak, reported 255 new confirmed cases of the virus on Thursday, bringing its accumulative number of infected people to 2,141, the second-highest after Wuhan whose accumulative number was 11,618.
Over the following five days starting Tuesday, the city faces a gap of 24,000 protective suits, 60,000 masks, 15,000 goggles and face shields as well as other protective clothing, according to the Xiaogan headquarters for prevention and control of the epidemic.
The city is also in urgent need of treatment experts in respiratory and severe cases.
"The prevention and control war is at the most crucial juncture. We should have firm confidence and resolutely win the tough battle against the outbreak," said Wu Haitao, mayor of Xiaogan.
Currently, a medical team from Chongqing Municipality is working in Xiaogan to help control the outbreak.
Chinese health authorities Friday said it received reports of 3,143 new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection and 73 deaths on Thursday from 31 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps.
