TOKYO, March 3 (Xinhua) -- Nearly 20 percent of nursing care facilities in Japan are running out of surgical masks as the country is stepping up efforts to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus, a latest survey showed on Tuesday.
The survey was conducted by the Nippon Careservice Craft Union over the weekend, with more than 1,100 care facilities across Japan responded.
It shows that 34.1 percent of the facilities are short of surgical masks and alcohol disinfectant. When asked how many masks they have left, 18.8 percent said that they have none.
The health ministry and the Cabinet Office have asked prefectural governments to survey the mask shortage among nursing care providers. However, 68.1 percent of the facilities said they have not yet been surveyed.
As of Tuesday evening, the number of confirmed cases in Japan has risen to more than 980, with over 700 of them stemming from the virus-hit Diamond Princess cruise ship quarantined in the port city of Yokohama.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Monday that the government would quickly draw up legislation to prepare for a worst-case scenario in containing the spread of the epidemic, adding that the measures would include a declaration of a state of emergency.
