World records coronavirus milestone as WHO warns against a 'paralysing' pandemic declaration
Venice: The number of new coronavirus cases reported outside China has exceeded the number of new ones in China for the first time, as a top official warns that prematurely declaring a pandemic could "paralyse" global efforts to contain the outbreak.
World Health Organisation director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus revealed there were 412 new cases in China as of Thursday morning (AEDT) compared to 459 confirmed infections in other countries, a milestone fuelled by major clusters in Italy, Iran and South Korea.
In an update to affected nations, Dr Ghebreyesus repeated his view that the spike in cases in Europe, Asia and the Middle East was "deeply concerning" but pushed back against the option of declaring COVID-19 a global pandemic.
"We should not be too eager to declare a pandemic without a careful and clear-minded analysis of the facts," he said.
"The WHO has already declared a public health emergency of international concern - our highest level of alarm.
"Using the word pandemic carelessly has no tangible benefit, but it does have significant risk in terms of amplifying unnecessary and unjustified fear and stigma, and paralysing systems.
"It may also signal that we can no longer contain the virus, which is not true. We are in a fight that can be won if we do the right things."
In other developments overnight, Australian time:
China has now recorded 78,191 cases and 2718 deaths, while elsewhere the total number of cases across 37 countries has hit 2918.
"China has fewer than 80,000 cases in a population of 1.4 billion people. In the rest of the world, there are 2790 cases, in a population of 6.3 billion," Dr Ghebreyesus said.
"Do not mistake me: I am not downplaying the seriousness of the situation, or the potential for this to become a pandemic, because it has that potential. Every scenario is still on the table."
The outbreak in Italy, which exploded in the country's north over the weekend and has led to the closures of schools, museums, churches and other major venues in Milan and Venice, has now been linked to cases in Algeria, Austria, Croatia, Germany, Spain and Switzerland.
There are now 400 cases in Italy - up from 322 in 24 hours and from three cases on Friday. Streets in Venice were close to deserted on Wednesday as tourists cancelled bookings or returned home early.
European Union Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides told reporters in Rome that the continent must remain calm.
"This is a situation of concern but we must not give in to panic," she said.
"We must also be vigilant when it comes to misinformation and disinformation as well as xenophobic statements, which are misleading citizens and putting in question the work of public authorities."
In a positive development, 14 countries that have experienced cases have not reported any new ones for more than a week. Nine other countries - Belgium, Cambodia, Finland, India, Nepal, The Philippines, Russia, Sri Lanka and Sweden - have not reported new cases for more than two weeks.
"But that doesn’t mean that cases may not come back to these countries. But the cases that made it before have been contained," Dr Ghebreyesus said.