Coronavirus cases outside China are low, but WHO chief warns of potential global breakout
"The window of opportunity we have now may close, so we need to use the window of opportunity we have now by hammering the outbreak in any country," Tedros said.
The remarks come after health officials confirmed that the virus has spread to Iran and cases surged in South Korea overnight. Iran reported its first two confirmed cases on Wednesday, and shortly after confirmed the deaths of both patients. The country now has five confirmed cases, Tedros said, including the first two.
Meanwhile, cases in South Korea have grown by about two-thirds in recent days, according to Korean health officials.new cases of the virus on Thursday, following an increase of 20 Wednesday, taking the total across the country to 104. The country also reported its first COVID-19-related death on Thursday.
"Although the number seems quite high, they are mostly linked to known, existing outbreaks," Dr. Oliver Morgan, the WHO's director of health emergency information and risk assessment, said about the new cases in South Korea, "so that hasn't changed and it doesn't signal a particular change in global epidemiology."
Most of the patients in South Korea are from the southern city of Daegu or nearby. Daegu Mayor Kwon Young-jin"I think the number of cases are really manageable and I hope South Korea will do everything to contain this outbreak at this early stage," Tedros said about the situation.
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