The World Health Organization on Tuesday confirmed a total of 92 cases of human-to-human coronavirus cases in 12 countries outside China.
Lauren Anthony reports.
The World Health Organization confirmed at least 92 cases of human-to-human spread of the coronavirus on Tuesday (February 18) - across 12 countries outside of China.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the agency had not seen seen sustained local transmission except in specific cases, such as on the Diamond Princess cruise ship quarantined in Japan.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (WHO) DIRECTOR-GENERAL, TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS, SAYING: "In the past 24 hours, there have been 110 new cases outside China, including 99 on the Diamond Princess cruise ship.
We have now had cases of COVID-19 outside China for more than a month.
We are supporting national authorities in every country that has cases to track the virus and understand how people were infected.
So far, there are 92 cases in 12 countries outside China of human-to-human transmission." WHITE FLASH "At the moment, we do not have enough data on cases outside China to make a meaningful comparison on the severity of disease or the case fatality rate.
We are following up with countries to get more information about what happens about each case and the outcome.
However, we have not yet seen the sustained local transmission except in specific circumstances like the Diamond Princess cruise ship." More than 3,000 passengers are still on board the ship - about half of whom are Japanese.
Those who show negative on the virus test will begin disembarking as early as Wednesday (February 19).
Outside China, there have been over 800 cases of the disease, known as COVID-19, and five deaths, according to a Reuters count based on official statements.
By Alex Willemyns
Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar’s Rakhine state were subjected to “ethnic cleansing” by security..