GENEVA, March 3 (Xinhua) -- The chief of World Health Organization (WHO) Tuesday called on manufacturers to urgently increase production to meet demand and guarantee supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE) worldwide as COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, hit more countries.

It is estimated that PPE supplies need to be increased by 40 percent globally, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a daily briefing, noting that shortages of PPE such as gloves, medical masks, respirators, goggles, and face shields are leaving frontline healthcare workers dangerously ill-equipped to care for COVID-19 patients.

For each month, 89 million medical masks, 76 million examination gloves, and 1.6 million goggles are required for the COVID-19 response, according to WHO's estimation.

Tedros said WHO is working with governments, manufacturers and the Pandemic Supply Chain Network, a public-private collaboration created by WHO and World Economic Forum, to boost production and secure supplies for critically affected and at-risk countries and regions.

"We have called on governments to develop incentives for manufacturers to ramp up production," he added.

By publishing guidelines, the WHO also called for rationalizing the use of PPE in health facilities.