WHO has declared "Public Health Emergency of International Concern" (PHEIC) due to the coronavirus outbreak having been detected in dozens of countries.
Speaking to the reporters, the Director-General of WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the virus has now been detected in 19 countries, including China, the epicenter of the virus and 98 cases have been identified to date outside of China. Even though originally the virus was spread from animal to humans, it has been spreading rapidly from human-to-human contact.
“It is confirmed the virus is spread from human-to-human contact in four countries that is, Germany, Japan, Vietnam and America”, said Tedros.
70 people have died with virus infection from China, while thousands more have been infected. Tedros said that the virus is spreading rapidly and if it is detected from poorer countries that have a "weaker" health system, then there is a risk that it will lead to tragedy.
"We don't know what sort of damage this virus could do if it were to spread in a country with a weaker health system," said Tedros.
Tedros has praised China for its transparency and protocols established in response to the outbreak. He said that stringent measures that the government of China has taken have contained the virus outbreak at the current level.
