As alert level heightened following the official announcement by Health Secretary Francisco Duque III last Thursday, 30 January 2020 on Manila’s first confirmed coronavirus case, almost instantly people flocked to medical and drug stores to buy protective medical masks.

Captured in photo are medical mask panic buyers queueing up at a medical supply store in Quiricada, Manila. Similar scenes were reported in other areas of the country and all over the world. (BENJAMIN CUARESMA/IAMIGO/CPH)