Coronavirus – Chinese use GRAPEFRUITS and bras as face masks… as pranksters mock improvised solutions – The Sun

NATIONWIDE shortages of protective face masks have forced Chinese locals to take desperate measures in a bid to shield off the deadly coronavirus.

Terrified residents have been seen using plastic bottles as helmets, as well as bras, plastic sheets, sanitary towels and even grapefruits as masks to try and ward off the fatal infection, which has so far killed 212 and infected at least 7,700 across 17 countries.

Pranksters have mocked their makeshift solutions on social media with absurd alternatives such as iceberg lettuce leaves.

Surgical protection masks are flying off the shelves across coronavirus affected countries as people stockpile the first line of defence from the fatal infection.

Images show thousands of locals lining up for miles to try and purchase the masks – some forced to camp overnight in the hope of obtaining supplies.

Many are forced to walk away empty-handed.

It comes as Chinese health officials warned people not to re-use their protective masks after videos emerged of people boiling their surgical masks and hanging them up to dry.

Medical experts warned that this greatly reduces the effectiveness of the masks, a spokeswoman for the Gansu province Health Commission added that they should be discarded after just four hours of use.

With more than 50 million Chinese residents on lock-down and 170 deaths in the country, some provinces such as Guangdong have mandated that people wear masks and are handing out fines for offenders.

Several airlines around the world, including British Airways and United Airlines, have axed flights to the country.

In Hong Kong, the government is making prisoners work around the clock to produce more of the desperately needed masks.

The surge in demand comes despite advice from public health experts that while masks, if used correctly, can help prevent the spread of disease, they cannot guarantee virus protection.

“The face masks that we see people wearing are surgical face masks,” said Dr Mark Parrish, regional medical director of the medical and travel security firm International SOS.

“As you breathe in and out you're breathing air from outside the face mask. So it will stop a little bit but not hugely.”

Hong Kong’s government has said it is “striving to procure more surgical masks to cope with the epidemic”, revealing that it has contacted 140 suppliers in ten countries.

It also plans to boost production in prisons, where prison labour is already used to make surgical masks for hospital workers, to 1.8 million masks per month.

While there have been no positive cases of coronavirus in the UK, Londoners are also rushing to pharmacies to buy up surgical masks and hand sanitiser to keep themselves safe.

Novel virus

The new coronavirus is believed to have originated late last year in a food market in the Chinese city of Wuhan that was illegally selling wildlife.

Health experts think it may have originated in bats and then passed to humans, possibly via another animal species.

It can be transmitted from person to person, although it is not clear how easily that happens.

Most cases so far are in people who have been in Wuhan, family members of those infected, or medical workers.

Although there have been a handful of confirmed cases of people who haven't visited China.

Transmission is most likely through close contact with an infected person via particles in the air from coughing or sneezing, or by someone touching an infected person or object with the virus on it and then touching their mouth, nose or eyes.

In order to reduce the likelihood of transmission, the WHO recommends that people frequently wash their hands, cover their mouth and nose when sneezing or coughing, and avoid close contact with those who are sick.

Authorities have said that those who develop symptoms such as coughing and fever who have been in China in the last 14 days should call ahead to a healthcare professional to establish if they need to be tested.

17 This terrifying map pinpoints new outbreaks when and where they happen – in real time

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