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Coronavirus cases outside China 'could be spark' for bigger fire, WHO says

World Materials 11 February 2020 00:37 (UTC +04:00)

The World Health Organization said on Monday the spread of coronavirus cases among people who have not been to China could be “the spark that becomes a bigger fire” and the human race must not let the epidemic get out of control, Trend reports citing Reuters.

As of 0500 GMT on Monday, there had been 40,235 confirmed cases reported in China and 909 deaths, as well as 319 cases in 24 other countries, including one death, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

The death toll from the epidemic had jumped by 97 on Sunday - the largest number in a single day since the virus was detected in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December.

The Diamond Princess cruise ship with 3,700 passengers and crew on board remained quarantined in the Japanese port of Yokohama, with 65 more cases detected, taking the number of confirmed case from the Carnival Corp-owned (CCL.N) vessel to 135.

In Europe, shares in car companies .SXAP exposed to China slumped, while prices of oil, iron ore and copper fell on worries over weaker Chinese demand because of the outbreak.

British Airways canceled all its flights to mainland China until the end of March.

Across mainland China, where people were trickling back to work after an extended Lunar New Year holiday, 3,062 new infections were confirmed on Sunday, according to the National Health Commission.

Wu Fan, vice-dean of Shanghai Fudan University Medical school, said there was hope of a turning point in the outbreak. But Ghebreyesus said there had been “concerning instances” of transmission from people who had not been to China.

"It could be the spark that becomes a bigger fire," Ghebreyesus told reporters in Geneva. "But for now it is only a spark. Our objective remains containment."

“We should really fight hard as one human race to fight this virus before it gets out of control,” he said.

An advance team of international WHO experts arrived in China to investigate.

“This mission brings together the best of Chinese science, Chinese public health with the best of the world’s public health”, the WHO’s Mike Ryan said.

The death toll from the outbreak has now surpassed that of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which killed hundreds worldwide in 2002/2003.

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