The World Health Organization said Tuesday that the outbreak of the deadly novel coronavirus, which has spread from China to two dozen countries, does not yet constitute a “pandemic”. “Currently we are not in a pandemic,” Sylvie Briand, head of WHO’s Global Infectious Hazard Preparedness division, told reporters in Geneva. Briand said that while there is the rapid spread of transmission in Hubei, outside the province there are mainly “spillover cases” with sporadic clusters of transmission. Authorities in China have taken dramatic measures to halt transmission, while other affected countries have put in place steps to rein in the spread. People wearing masks but not taking other precautions like frequently washing their hands could have a “false sense of security”, she said.

Source: Punch February 04, 2020 13:27 UTC