The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
“Although the numbers outside China are still relatively small, they hold the potential for a much larger outbreak,” Tedros said.
“The world is pulling together to end the outbreak, building on lessons learned from past outbreaks.
“China needs the world’s solidarity and support,” he added, saying that he had held “frank talks” with President Xi Jinping.
China has taken extraordinary measures to try and stop the disease spreading, including bans on tour groups travelling overseas, suspending schools and extending the Lunar New Year holiday.
Most street traffic in and around Wuhan has been banned, leaving more than 50 million people shuttered in their homes.
– ‘I need to buy food’ –
“This is the first day since the lockdown that I’ve had to go out,” a man in his 50s told AFP on the mostly deserted streets of the industrial city on Wednesday.
“I have no choice because I need to buy food.”
Some 250 French citizens and 100 other Europeans will be flown out of Wuhan on board two French planes this week.
Nearly 600 European citizens in China want to be repatriated because of the coronavirus epidemic, the EU said.
France said it would keep its returnees in a holding facility in Paris for 14 days — the estimated incubation period for the virus.
Australia plans to house any citizens evacuated on an island normally used to detain asylum seekers.
The number of confirmed cases across China climbed to 5,974, while the death toll nationwide jumped to 132.
The scale of the deepening crisis was emphasised with the total number of infections on the Chinese mainland exceeding that of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak of 2002-03.
But the death toll is so far much lower than SARS, which claimed nearly 800 lives around the world — with most fatalities in mainland China and Hong Kong.
The virus is believed to have originated in a wild-animal market in Wuhan, where it jumped to humans before spreading across the country as the peak travel period for New Year festivities got under way.
– Economic pain –
The virus has rattled global markets and started to dent the Chinese economy.
Japanese automaker Toyota said it would keep its plants in China closed until at least February 9.
Tech giant Foxconn said Wednesday that Taiwan staff at its vast network of factories in China do not need to return to work until mid-February, a move threatening supply chains for everything from iPhones to flat-screen TVs and laptops.
The virus has also disrupted sporting events, with a women’s football Olympic qualifier event moved from Wuhan to Australia.
