WHO’s emergency panel to meet on China virus

GENEVA

A World Health Organization emergency panel will meet on Wednesday to discuss the outbreak of a new virus in China which has claimed six lives, an official said.

In a news conference, WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic said the WHO head Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus will convene the Emergency Committee on the novel coronavirus.

The committee will “advise him if the situation constitutes a public health emergency of international concern and what recommendations should be put in place,” Jasarevic said.

“So far, four cases have been reported outside China, two in Thailand, one in Japan and one in the Republic of Korea,” the spokesman added.

“More cases should be expected in other parts of China and possibly in other countries in the coming days,” he said.

A team from the WHO is meeting with health officials in Wuhan, China, and is working on a response to novel coronavirus, he noted.

Worldwide, there has been a total of 278 officially reported, confirmed cases of “2019-nCoV” the coronavirus.

Officials in China have confirmed 291 cases of the virus in the country. A total of 270 were found in central Hubei province, while 21 cases were confirmed in six other cities -- Beijing, Shanghai and four cities in southeastern Guangdong province.

“Based on current information, an animal source seems the most likely primary source of this outbreak with limited human-to-human transmission occurring between close contacts,” Jasarevic said.