(Yicai Global) Feb. 3 -- Some 1.8 million face masks will be made available to residents today through the recently introduced booking scheme, according to the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce.

As 10 more cases of the novel coronavirus are confirmed in Shanghai today, bringing the total to 203, municipal authorities announced at a press briefing several measures to help contain its spread, including same-day tests of the coronavirus and consolidating medical resources.

Shanghai will improve laboratory testing at the Shanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention to ensure that tests of submitted samples are completed on the same day, said Zheng Jin, spokesperson for the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission.

Fifty-five doctors and nurses from hospitals around Shanghai have been allocated to the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center and other municipal hospitals appointed as novel coronavirus treatment centers, Zheng added.

A 35-year-old woman from Huanggang, Hubei province who died suddenly in Shanghai's Pudong New Area has not died of the novel coronavirus, municipal government spokesperson Xu Wei said. Rather, the cause of death was by vomit entering her respiratory tract. She tested negative for the virus, The Paper reported, citing the Shanghai Municipal Public Security Bureau.

Shanghai introduced an appointment system this week to streamline the purchase of face masks and to reduce congestion at pharmacies and possible risks of cross-contamination. Shanghai residents should book their purchase at a registration desk in their neighborhood and then proceed to a designated pharmacy to collect.

Editor: Kim Taylor