The WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared a public health emergency of international concern over the global outbreak of the coronavirus
BEIJING/GENEVA - The World Health Organization said on Thursday it was declaring the coronavirus outbreak that has killed 170 people in China a global emergency, as cases spread to at least 18 countries.
In Hubei province - of which Wuhan is the capital - some 60 million people are living under virtual lockdown as China seeks to contain the epidemic. The move will trigger tighter containment and information-sharing guidelines to all countries, but may disappoint Beijing, which had expressed confidence it can beat the “devil” virus.China has confidence and capability to win the war against coronavirus: foreign ministryExperts are particularly concerned about person-to-person transmission cases outside China, which suggest greater potential for the virus to spread further.
The virus has spread quickly since the WHO’s Emergency Committee last met a week ago. But there has been no death reported outside China and neither has the virus emerged in Africa. Nonetheless, foreign governments have been flying home their citizens from Hubei and holding them in quarantine, while airlines including Air France, American Airlines and British Airways have stopped flying to mainland China.
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