The World Health Organization declared the outbreak of China’s Coronavirus a global emergency on Thursday after the number of cases spiked manifold in a week.
According to the UN health agency, an international emergency as an “extraordinary event” that constitutes a risk to other countries and requires a coordinated international response.
The virus originated from the Chinese city of Wuhan in the month of December. Since then, it has spread to eighteen other countries. To date, China has reported more than 7,800 cases including 204 deaths, according to news agency Reuters.
“China has confidence and capability to win the war against the virus,” Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman said after Coronasirus was declared a global emergency.
A declaration of a global emergency brings greater money and resources to deal with the situation, and it may also result in governments restricting travel and trade to affected countries. The announcement also imposes more disease reporting requirements on countries.
