The UN health agency on Thursday declared an international emergency over the deadly novel coronavirus from China -- a rarely used designation that could lead to improved international co-ordination in tackling the disease. "Our greatest concern is the potential for the virus to spread to countries with weaker health systems," World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said as he declared a "public health emergency of international concern". The WHO's Emergency Committee, an advisory body of international experts, said in a statement that evidence had shown that restricting movement of people and goods during public health emergencies "may be ineffective and may divert resources from other interventions". WHO stopped short of declaring an emergency last week because its emergency committee was divided over the issue. The WHO has called a public health emergency of international concern only five times since the relevant legislation took effect in 2007 -- for swine flu, polio, Zika and twice for Ebola outbreaks in Africa.

Source: Punch January 30, 2020 20:09 UTC