WHO delays decision on China virus outbreak

(22 Jan 2020) The Chinese city of Wuhan shut down outbound flights and trains as the world's most populous country battled the spread of a new virus that has sickened hundreds of people and killed 17, Chinese state media said early Thursday. In Geneva, the World Health Organization put off deciding whether to declare the outbreak a global health emergency and asked its expert committee on the issue to continue meeting for a second day Thursday. The organization defines a global emergency as an extraordinary event that constitutes a risk to other countries and requires a coordinated international response. "The decision about whether or not to declare a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) is one I take extremely seriously and one I'm only prepared to make with appropriate consideration of all the evidence," WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news conference on Wednesday. The number of new cases has risen sharply in China, the centre of the outbreak. The 17 deaths announced Wednesday night were all in Hubei province, where the outbreak emerged in the provincial capital of Wuhan late last month. Wuhan authorities said the province has confirmed 444 cases, which would bring the national total to more than 500. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives Google+: https://plus.google.com/b/102011028589719587178/+APArchive​ Tumblr: https://aparchives.tumblr.com/​​ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/5234a8020c5e42cebe878242a7a9b537