“The main reason for this declaration is not what is happening in China but what is happening in other countries,” said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, according to the BBC. The concern is that it could spread to countries with weaker health systems.
The UN agency said the new coronavirus has been exported to more than a dozen countries, now including India and the Philippines which have the latest cases. The agency defines an international emergency as an “extraordinary event” that constitutes a risk to other countries and requires a coordinated international response, according to the Associated Press.
The coronavirus was first reported in Wuhan, China in late December. To date, China has reported more than 7,800 cases including 170 deaths. Eighteen other countries have since reported cases, as scientists race to understand how exactly the virus is spreading and how severe it is.
There is now evidence that the virus is spreading among people in China and health experts have noted with concern instances in other countries — including the United States, France, Japan, Germany, Canada, and Vietnam — where there have also been isolated cases of human-to-human transmission.
“This declaration is not a vote of non-confidence in China…on the contrary, WHO continues to have the confidence in China’s capacity to control the outbreak,” the WHO chief said.
With WHO declaring a global health emergency comes certain requirements and typically the declaration also brings greater money and resources, but may also prompt nervous governments to restrict travel and trade to affected countries. The announcement also imposes more disease reporting requirements on countries.
Several countries, including the United States, Japan and some in the European Union, are evacuating their citizens from Wuhan. The United Kingdom was given the green light to fly nationals home in the early hours of Friday morning after a long delay. A number of other countries, including Russia and Mongolia, have closed their borders while many airlines are suspending flights to and from China.
This is a developing story.
