Hubei's medical supply situation improving, but shortages remain - official

By Cheng Leng and Shivani Singh

BEIJING (Reuters) - The medical supply situation in China's Hubei, which has been hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak, has improved, but items such as protective suits remain scarce, a provincial official said at a briefing on Saturday.

Cao Guangjing, the vice governor of Hubei, said that despite the improvements, levels of supplies such as the suits were lower than they should be.

He added that the food inventory in Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak, was ample and that cross-provincial logistics were smooth.

Hubei will monitor supply of special products, said Qin Jun, an official with the province's department of commerce, adding that it had one month's supply of powdered milk for babies.

Qin said that "because of the epidemic control and prevention previously, specialized shops that sell baby milk powder were out of business, causing structural shortage of the milk powder."

Hubei has 1,600 tonnes of milk powder.

(Reporting by Shivani Singh and Cheng Leng. Editing by Gerry Doyle)