GENEVA: The World Health Organisation 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.

Tedros told a news conference in Geneva that recent weeks had witnessed an unprecedented outbreak which has been met by an unprecedented response.

“Let me be clear, this declaration is not a vote of no confidence in China,” he said. “There is no reason to impose restrictions on travel to and from China.

“Our greatest concern is the potential for the virus to spread to countries with weaker health systems,” he added.

The WHO panel, chaired by Didier Houssin of France, is composed of 16 independent experts.

Twice last week the experts had decided not to declare an emergency while they sought more information from China and awaited evidence of confirmed person-to-person spread of the virus in other countries, so as to meet their criteria for a global emergency.

The declaration of a global emergency triggers recommendations to all countries aimed at preventing or reducing cross-border spread of disease, while avoiding unnecessary interference with trade and travel.

It covers temporary recommendations for national health authorities worldwide, which include stepping up their monitoring, preparedness and containment measures.

Although the WHO has no legal authority to sanction countries, it could ask governments to provide scientific justification for any travel or trade restrictions that they impose in the event of an international emergency.

Toll rises to 170

China on Thursday raised the death toll to 170 and more countries reported infections, including some spread locally, as foreign evacuees from China’s worst-hit region returned home to medical tests and even isolation.

India and the Philippines reported their first cases, a traveller and a student who had both been in Wuhan, the central Chinese city where the first illnesses appeared in December. South Korea confirmed a case that was locally spread, a man who had contact with a patient diagnosed the new type of coronavirus earlier.

Locally spread cases outside China are a worrying concern as potential signs of the virus spreading more easily and the difficulty of containing it.

The new virus has now infected more people in China than were sickened there during the 2002-2003 outbreak of SARS, another type of coronavirus.

The latest figures for China show an increase of 38 deaths and 1,737 cases for a total of 7,711 confirmed cases. Of the new deaths, 37 were in Hubei province, of which Wuhan is the capital, and one was in the southwestern province of Sichuan.

A second Japanese flight carrying 210 evacuees landed in Tokyo. Reports said nine of those aboard the flight showed signs of cough and fever. Three of Japan’s confirmed cases were among a group of evacuees who had returned on a government-chartered flight the previous day.

A flight arranged between the European Union and China departed from Portugal en route to China to bring back 350 Europeans.

Published in Dawn, January 31st, 2020