Xie Baosong from Fujian Provincial Hospital, answers questions from Malaysian doctors. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

N95 face masks, the highest-quality ones, are not necessary for everyone, since ordinary masks can block most virus-laden particles, said Chen Wu, deputy chief of the emergency department at the Fujian center for disease control.

"But wearing some sort of mask is quite effective in helping curtail the epidemic," he said.

Earlier, according to the provincial foreign affairs office, Sarawak had donated more than 4 million yuan ($566,000) worth of epidemic-fighting materials to Fujian, with which it has a sister relationship.