Facemask shortage and the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak: Reflection on public health measures

Huailiang Wu; Jian Huang; Casper JP Zhang; Zonglin He; Wai-kit Ming

An increasing number of novel coronavirus disease cases were initially identified in Wuhan, Hubei province, China in December 2019. The novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) was mainly transmitted via respiratory droplets and can be transmitted between humans 1-3 . Common symptoms of COVID-19 include fever, cough, dyspnoea, and myalgia or fatigue, while less common symptoms include sputum production, headache, haemoptysis, and diarrhoea 4 . In mid-February 2020, the reported incidence of COVID-19 cases exceeded 60,000 in China, of which more than 70% was in Wuhan city and more than 80% was in Hubei province 5,6 . Globally, Thailand, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, France, Canada, Australia, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States and 13 other countries had reported COVID-19 cases 7 . Most of the confirmed cases are travellers from or ever been to Wuhan or other Chinese cities; however, locally transmitted cases outside of China have also been reported 7 .