A Glasgow newsagent has sold thousands of facemasks amid rising coronavirus fears, it has been reported.

Partick Superstore in Dumbarton Road in the city's West End has been overwhelmed with customers after hanging up a posted which read "don't die, please buy", as the Daily Record reports.

The shop's manager claims to have shifted more than 2050 masks - priced at £1 per mask - so far.

Asking not to be named, he told the paper: “We put the posters up outside the shop on Thursday and it’s been crazy ever since.

“I got 50 boxes of masks from a pharmacy distributor and the demand has been huge.

“So many pharmacies across the country have sold out so I thought I’d try and do my bit for the local community and offer what I could from here."

 

READ MORE: Coronavirus: Scotland set to confirm case of deadly disease 'within days'

He told the paper many customers bought the masks to send back to their families, however others bought them to wear it straight away.

It comes as it was revealed today infectious disease experts will use £20million of UK Government funding to embark on an ambitious six-month plan to produce a coronavirus vaccine.

Health Secretary Matthew Hancock on Monday said the Government would plough fresh money into developing a vaccine to combat the deadly global disease.

The news came as the death toll in China from the disease rose to 361, with one more fatality having been recorded in the Philippines.

Glasgow Times:

READ MORE: Dr Punam Krishan: Patients’ anxiety over Coronavirus threat - and simple disease-busting tips

A further 2829 new cases were confirmed by Chinese health authorities in the 24 hours to Monday morning, taking the total number of cases in the country to 17,205.

Most cases have been recorded in Hubei province, whose capital city Wuhan is the epicentre of the outbreak

Several countries including Britain have evacuated hundreds of their citizens from the infection zone.