WHO declares China virus outbreak an international emergency

Didier Houssin, Chair of the Emergency Committee, speaks next to Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus during a news conference after a meeting of the Emergency Committee on the novel coronavirus in Geneva, Switzerland January 30, 2020. [Reuters]

The World Health Organization declared on Thursday that the coronavirus epidemic in China now constitutes a public health emergency of international concern.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, announced the decision after a meeting of its Emergency Committee, an independent panel of experts, amid mounting evidence of the virus spreading to some 18 countries.