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Coronavirus pandemic

WHO concerned about spread of coronavirus outside of China

The WHO director general noted that in the past two days, more cases have been documented outside of China than within the country

GENEVA, February 27. /TASS/. Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated during Thursday’s briefing in Geneva that the spread of novel coronavirus outside China causes major concern. He noted that in the past two days, more cases have been documented outside of China than within the country.

"But as you know, it’s what is happening in the rest of Europe that is now our greatest concern. Outside China, there are 3,474 cases in 44 countries and 54 deaths," he noted.

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First coronavirus cases confirmed in seven more countries

"For the past two days, the number of new COVID-19 cases reported in the rest of the world exceeded the number of new cases in China," he noted.

In the past 24 hours, seven countries have reported cases of coronavirus for the first time: Brazil, Georgia, Greece, North Macedonia, Norway, Pakistan and Romania, he added. "My message to each of these countries is: this is your window of opportunity. If you act aggressively now, you can contain this coronavirus. You can prevent people getting sick. You can save lives," the WHO chief stressed. He reminded that the current outbreak has the potential to become a pandemic.

"But this coronavirus is not influenza. With the right measures, it can be contained," he said. "That is one of the key messages from China. The evidence we have is that there does not appear to be widespread community transmission."

The WHO chief pointed out that several states had not reported any new coronavirus cases for over two weeks: Belgium, Cambodia, India, Nepal, the Philippines, Russia, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. "Each of these countries is different and each shows that aggressive, early measures can prevent transmission before coronavirus gets a foothold," he added.

In late December 2019, Chinese authorities notified the World Health Organization (WHO) about an outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, central China. Coronavirus cases have been reported in at least 44 countries outside of China, including Russia. According to Chinese authorities, about 78,400 people have been infected with the virus in the country. The death toll has reached 2,744, while over 32,400 patients have recovered. WHO declared the outbreak of the novel coronavirus a global health emergency and named the virus COVID-19.

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