ORLANDO, Fla. — The coronavirus has many Floridians worried and scrambling for face masks, but one local doctor is begging people to stop because they are in short supply.

That is because face masks are on backorder, even for medical suppliers. The demand is higher than the supply, making it tough for smaller clinics looking to keep enough masks on-hand.

Dr. Candice Jones with Edgewater Pediatrics says her office staff tried to order new medical masks and were faced with an urgent message on the landing page of the website, saying the supplier is "experiencing higher than normal demand globally."

"I see children and they cough and sneeze everywhere, and I have to get really close to them," explained Jones. "When they're sick with cold symptoms or a fever I would like to wear a mask and I don't have any. So that brings up a concern where people are stockpiling and buying masks, and it has created a shortage for those of us who really need it,"

Luckily, her associates have been able to find some more masks through backchannels to tide them over until the backorder is completed. "It had us scrambling looking for the masks," said Jones. "It was a problem. It was a little scary there."

Jones says unless you buy a medical grade mask and know how to fit it properly, you would not be guarded from the virus. 

She wants concerned people to know that you only need to wear a mask if you have the virus, if you have been exposed, or if you are in a high-risk area.

America is still considered low-risk.

Gov. Ron DeSantis will be holding a news conference on the coronavirus at 10 a.m. Thursday. He is expected to be joined by the state surgeon general and other healthcare officials.

Elsewhere, Japan will close schools nationwide to help control the spread of the new virus, the government announced Thursday.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was asking all elementary, middle and high schools to remain shut until spring holidays begin in late March.

The measure affects 12.8 million students at 34,847 schools nationwide, the education ministry said.

The decision comes amid growing concern about the rise in the number of untraceable cases of the virus in northern Japan and elsewhere. Japan now has more than 890 cases, including 705 from a quarantined cruise ship. An eighth death from the virus was confirmed Thursday in Japan’s northernmost island of Hokkaido, now considered a site of growing cluster.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.