Calling for Spread of 'Facts, Not Fear,' WHO Declares Global Health Emergency as Coronavirus Cases Confirmed in 18 Countries
Amid reports that the strain of coronavirus first detected in Wuhan, China has now spread to 18 countries, the World Health Organization declared a global health emergency on Thursday.
WHO held an emergency committee meeting to discuss the respiratory disease, called 2019-nCoV by global health experts, which has spread from person-to-person in at least five countries, including China, Germany, Japan, Vietnam, and the United States.
“There are now 98 2019-nCoV cases in 18 countries outside China,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of WHO.
“We don’t know what sort of damage this 2019-nCoV virus could do if it were to spread in a country with a weaker health system. We must act now to help countries prepare for that possibility,” he added. “For all of these reasons, I am declaring a public health emergency of international concern over the global outbreak of 2019-nCoV.”
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Following the declaration, countries will be required to follow more stringent disease reporting guidelines. More funding and resources are expected to be released to fight the outbreak.
China has reported more than 7,700 cases of the disease and 170 deaths. So far, there have been no deaths from the disease outside of China.
On Thursday, the first human-to-human transmission case was confirmed in the U.S., where at least six people have been sickened. A man in the Chicago area reportedly contracted the coronavirus from his wife, who had recently returned from Wuhan.
Tedros emphasized that all but seven coronavirus cases outside China have been detected in patients who recently traveled to Wuhan.
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