WHO warns overseas virus spread could be 'tip of the iceberg'
10 February, 2020
The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that confirmed cases of coronavirus being transmitted by persons who have never travelled to China may be the "tip of the iceberg".
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus' remarks come as members of a WHO-led "international expert mission" flew to China on Monday (Feb 10) to greatly help coordinate a reply to the outbreak that has so far infected a lot more than 40,000 people and killed 908 in the united states.
"There've been some concerning instances of onward #2019nCoV spread from persons without travel history to (China)," Ghebreyesus tweeted Sunday, using the virus's provisional scientific name.
"The detection of a tiny number of instances may indicate more widespread transmission far away; in short, we might only be seeing the end of the iceberg."
As the virus' spread outside China were slow, Ghebreyesus warned it might accelerate.
"Containment remains our objective, but all countries must use the window of opportunity created by the containment technique to plan the virus' possible arrival," he said.
Outside mainland China, there were a lot more than 350 infections reported in practically 30 places. There were two deaths, one in the Philippines and the other in Hong Kong.
Several countries have banned arrivals from China while major airlines have suspended flights, and Air China cancelled some of its flights to america.
The WHO-led mission to China has been headed up by Bruce Aylward, a veteran of previous health emergencies, Ghebreyesus said. Aylward oversaw the WHO's 2014-2016 response to the Ebola epidemic in West Africa.
WHO said in recent days there have been "some stabilising" in the numbers of new cases of the coronavirus in China. However the UN agency cautioned it was too early to say if the virus had peaked.
The SARS-like virus is thought to have emerged late this past year in the central city of Wuhan, the administrative centre of Hubei province where millions of folks are under lockdown in a bid to avoid it spreading.
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