Jan 31, 2020 (LBO) - The World Health Organization said the virus represents a risk outside of China and is calling it a global virus emergency.
The death toll in China had climbed to 213 by Friday with nearly 10,000 infections, according to foreign media reports.
Global outbreak includes 98 cases in 18 countries outside of China.
However, the WHO said travel and trade restrictions with China were unnecessary to stem the spread of the virus, which has spread to more than 15 other countries.
Sri Lanka suspended issuing on-arrival visas for Chinese tourists after detecting the first patient with coronavirus in the country two days ago.
Foreign media quoted WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus saying that the concern is the potential for the virus to spread to countries with weaker health systems.
“We must all act together now to limit further spread… We can only stop it together.”
The virus is similar to the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) pathogen. That outbreak also began in China and eventually killed nearly 800 people worldwide in 2002-03.