Story at a glance
- China reported 412 new cases of the deadly virus Tuesday, while there were 459 confirmed in 37 other countries.
- WHO officials said the spread outside of China is “now our greatest concern.”
- In the past 24 hours, seven countries have reported cases for the first time.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said Thursday the number of new COVID-19 cases reported outside China has exceeded the number of new cases inside the country where the coronavirus outbreak originated for the first time.
“For the past two days, the number of new COVID-19 cases reported in the rest of the world has exceeded the number of new cases in China,” WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a news conference Thursday.
“It’s what is happening in the rest of the world that is now our greatest concern,” he said.
WHO reported Wednesday for the first time there were more new confirmed cases of the coronavirus reported outside China, with 412 new cases reported in the country, while the tally for the rest of the world hit 459.
Since the outbreak in December, the majority of cases have occurred in China, mostly in the Hubei province where the outbreak is believed to have started.
Outside China, there’s a total of 3,474 cases in 44 countries and 54 deaths, WHO said Thursday. China has reported a total of 78,630 cases, including 2,747 deaths.
Meanwhile, in the past 24 hours, seven countries have reported cases for the first time.
Tedros said the epidemics in Iran, Italy and South Korea show what the coronavirus is capable of, but said with the right measures, it can be contained. He said one of the key messages from the situation in China is that there does not “appear to be widespread community transmission.”
WHO officials said every country needs to be ready to detect COVID-19 cases early, isolate patients, trace contacts and prevent hospital outbreaks and community transmission.
Tedros said the outbreak has “pandemic potential,” but added that “fear and panic doesn’t help,” saying the most important thing is to calm down and do the right things to “fight this very dangerous coronavirus.”
In the U.S., the total number of cases is at 60, including 42 individuals who were repatriated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship. One person in Northern California has contracted the coronavirus without traveling to regions hit by the outbreak or coming into contact with anyone known to have the virus, the CDC confirmed Wednesday.
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