The World Health Organization (WHO) has postponed its decision to declare the coronavirus outbreak in China a global health emergency.
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WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said physicians need more information and he’s asked his committee to hold another emergency today in Geneva, Switzerland.
Tedros, who was interviewed by reporters after the committee met on Wednesday, said there was still a split decision. They have researchers on the ground in China collecting data.
LIVE: Press conference on the Emergency Committee meeting on new #coronavirus (2019-nCoV) https://t.co/8WOYQk9Scf
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) January 22, 2020
Tedros explained that he needs to make appropriate consideration of all the evidence.
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“The decision about whether or not to declare a public health emergency of international concern on new coronavirus is one I take extremely seriously, and one I am only prepared to make with appropriate consideration of all the evidence,” he said in a tweet.
The decision about whether or not to declare a public health emergency of international concern on new #coronavirus is one I take extremely seriously, and one I am only prepared to make with appropriate consideration of all the evidence.
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) January 22, 2020
Many of the patients with the new illness, according to Chinese authorities, had come into contact with seafood and meat markets, suggesting the virus is spreading from animals to people.
WHO physicians said they’ve found evidence of human-to-human transmission within close contacts, citing family members, and within a health-care environment.
According to the latest count, the 2019 coronavirus has infected more than 540 people in less than a month.
