Comment on Virus crisis ebbs in China, spreads fear across the West

PARIS – The coronavirus epidemic shifted increasingly westward toward the Middle East, Europe and the U.S. on Tuesday, with governments taking emergency steps to ease shortages of masks and other supplies for front-line doctors and nurses. “We are concerned that countries’ abilities to respond are being compromised by the severe and increasing disruption to the global supply of personal protective equipment, caused by rising demand, hoarding and misuse,” said World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.