GENEVA (Reuters) – Cases of coronavirus infections are not rising dramatically outside China apart from on a cruise liner now quarantined off a Japanese port, the World Health Organization’s emergency measures director said on Thursday.
“Outside cases on the Diamond Princess cruise ship we are not seeing dramatic increases in cases outside China,”
Mike Ryan, executive director of WHO’s health emergencies programme, told a Geneva news briefing. A further 44 cases were reported on the Diamond Princess on Thursday, raising the total to 219, though authorities said some elderly people would finally to be allowed to disembark on Friday.
Ryan also said the main U.N. health agency expected the rest of a special WHO team to arrive in China over the coming weekend to investigative the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak.
Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Mark Heinrich
