中国工厂加班加点生产埃博拉防护服

A factory in China is working day and night to help in the fight against the Ebola outbreak by producing protective suits for healthcare workers as demand surges.

The plant, in Anqiu, Shandong province, which is owned by US protective clothing manufacturer Lakeland Industries, has expanded its capacity.

Fears are continuing to mount over the Ebola outbreak, with the deadly virus spreading to Europe and the United States.

Wang Ximin, the Anqiu plant's general manager, said it has doubled its workforce and equipment output, with sales of its hazardous material suits rising by 30 to 40 percent from the same period last year.

Day and night shifts ensure almost nonstop production of 6,000 protective suits a day, Wang said. Most of them will be sent to virushit areas in West Africa and hospitals in the United States and Europe.

"We have seen a huge jump in orders for our products since mid-October and decided to add night shifts to meet the rapidly rising demand," Wang said.

The outbreak has triggered lucrative sales for manufacturers, with the price of protective suits ranging from several dozen yuan to more than 1,000 yuan (about $160) on Internet shopping platform eBay.

Dealers say the main clients are governments and international agencies.

The suits produced by Lakeland in China are made to the same standard as those used by healthcare workers during the SARS and H1N1 flu outbreaks, Wang said.

Lakeland, which has headquarters in New York, has decided to raise $11.2 million through a private stock sale to support the increasedmarket demand, according to a media report.

DuPont, another US protective suits producer, said it has more than tripled its production since the start of the outbreak in March, while Kimberly Clark, which makes protective disposable medical equipment, said it has seen a 20 to 30 percent rise in demand compared with the same time last year, Reuters reported.

Almost 5,000 people have been killed by the Ebola outbreak and more than 10,000 have been infected in West Africa, according to figures from the World Health Organization. Japan reported suspected cases after the US and Europe confirmed several diagnoses.

Some experts have warned that in a worstcase scenario, 1.4 million people could be infected by January.

Wang, at Lakeland's factory in Shandong province, said it will maintain its current production capacity as he sees no sign of a drop in orders amid the stronger international response to combat the virus.

因为需求的激增，中国一家工厂正日夜工作为医护人员们生产防护服以帮助抗击埃博拉病毒的爆发。

美国防护服制造商雷克兰工业公司在山东安丘的一家工厂已经扩大其规模。

随着致命病毒在欧洲和美国的扩散，人们对于埃博拉的恐惧感也日益剧增。

安丘工厂的总经理王喜民（音）说，由于防护服的销量同比去年增长了百分之三十到四十，因此工厂的员工和设备产量都达到了去年的两倍。

王喜民提到，日夜几乎不停歇的工作才能确保一天生产出6000件防护服，而这些防护服大多都要送往受病毒侵袭的非洲西部以及美国和欧洲等地的医院。

王还说：“自从十月中旬我们就已经预料到产品将会有巨大的需求量，所以我们就增加了夜班来制造这些防护服从而满足需求。”

EBay网上购物平台的防护服价格从几十元到一千多元（大约160美元）不等，可见埃博拉的爆发给制造商们带来了丰厚的利润。

据经销商说，他们主要的客户是政府部门和国际机构。

雷克兰公司在中国生产的防护服与在非典病毒以及甲型H1N1流感病毒爆发期间医护人员所使用的防护服为同一标准。

据一家媒体报道，总部在纽约的雷克兰公司已经决定卖出1120万美元的私有股票来筹集资金从而支持增长的市场需求。

据路透社报道，美国另一家防护服制造商杜邦公司称，自从三月埃博拉爆发开始至今，公司的产量已经增长了超过三倍。与此同时，生产一次性防护医疗设备的金佰利公司称，产品需求量同比去年增长了百分之二十到三十。

根据世界卫生组织的数据，埃博拉爆发导致的死亡人数已经近乎五千人，而在西非，超过一万人已经感染了这种病毒。在美国和欧洲确认诊断了几例患者后，日本也相继报告出疑似病例。

一些专家警告说最坏的可能是，到明年一月或将有140万人感染上这种病毒。

王喜民说，在国际性抗击病毒举措不断扩大的情况下，他看不到任何需求下降的趋势，因此，雷克兰在山东省的工厂将会保持它当前的生产量以满足需要。