Last Updated on March 3, 2020, 6:59 AM AST by Anthony Morris
The World Health Organisation on Monday said that the number of new coronavirus cases outside China was almost nine times higher than the new cases of the virus inside the country during the past 24 hours.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that as the virus is spreading over the other continents, the number of new cases of the coronavirus in China is falling.
China has reported just 206 new cases of the coronavirus, COVID-19, on Sunday, which is the lowest number of new cases in China since Jan. 22, he said.
The total number of cases outside China now tops 8,739 across 61 countries, and these include 127 deaths. He added that about 81% of cases outside China are from four countries.
Tedros said that the epidemics spread in the Republic of Korea, Iran, Italy and Japan are their greatest concern. He added that the world health officials arrived in Iran on Monday to deliver supplies and support.
He further said that coronavirus is a unique virus, with unique features. The virus is not influenza.
He added that out of the other 57 affected countries, 38 had reported 10 cases or fewer. That, Nineteen countries have reported only one case, and there are some countries that have contained the virus and have not reported in the last two weeks.
Tedros said that the health officials would not hesitate to declare that the outbreak is a pandemic if the evidence suggests so.
At a press briefing on Friday, he said that most cases of coronavirus can still be traced back to the known contacts or clusters of cases and there isn’t any evidence as of now that the virus is spreading freely in communities.
The fact that the virus is not spreading freely through communities is a reason why WHO hasn’t declared the outbreak a pandemic.
Anthony Morris covers stories related to politics and regional developments. His in-depth reporting about governance and reforms makes him stand out in regional journalism, with a deep analysis of political trends and their impact on Caribbean communities.
