WHO postpones global health emergency designation for novel coronavirus

The World Health Organization Emergency Committee said it needs more evidence to decide whether the novel coronavirus in the Chinese city Wuhan is a "public health emergency of international concern" and agreed to reconvene Thursday.

The briefing came after the Emergency Committee had a long discussion, but decided more evidence was needed to determine the status of the outbreak.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, said: "There was an excellent discussion during the committee today, but it was also clear that to proceed, we need more information.

"The decision about whether or not to declare a public health emergency of international concern is one I take extremely seriously, and one I am only prepared to make with appropriate consideration of all the evidence," Ghebreyesus said.

"There is evidence of person-to-person transmission among close contacts such as in families or in healthcare settings. This is not unexpected with a respiratory disease. We have not seen any evidence of onward transmission such as third-, fourth-generation transmission," said Maria Van Kerkhove, the committee's adviser.

She revealed that the 2019-nCoV is a new virus. "Identification and sequencing were done quickly, but most importantly, the sequence was shared quickly. That's what allowed Thailand, Japan, Republic of Korea to identify cases quickly," she said.

The WHO has a team in China working with local experts and officials to investigate the outbreak.

Ghebreyesus said he was very impressed by the detail and depth of China's presentation and said the transparency and cooperation by China were "very commendable".

Shortly before the briefing, Wuhan announced a halt in all city transportation, including local buses, ferries, long-distance coaches and subways. The local authority advised residents not to leave Wuhan unless they have a "special reason".