WHO Head Cautions Against Being Too Optimistic About Lower Number Of New Coronavirus Cases

Muhammad Irfan Published February 07, 2020 | 06:59 PM

World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called on Friday for a cautious assessment of information about the reduction of new cases of coronavirus in China over the past two days, warning that the figures could rise again

GENEVA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 07th February, 2020) World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called on Friday for a cautious assessment of information about the reduction of new cases of coronavirus in China over the past two days, warning that the figures could rise again.

"As of 6 a. m. Geneva time today [5:00 a. m. GMT], there were 31,211 confirmed cases [of coronavirus] in China and 637 deaths.

For the last two days there have been fewer reported new infections in China, which is good news, but we caution against reading too much into that. The numbers could go up again," Ghebreyesus said at a special session on the coronavirus epidemic situation in Geneva.

The WHO chief added that there were a total of 270 coronavirus cases outside of China in 24 countries.

China first detected the novel strain of coronavirus in Wuhan city in late December. Last week, the WHO declared a global health emergency in light of the outbreak.