Coronavirus toll mounts to 170 in China

The death toll from coronavirus has reached 170 on Thursday, Sputnik reported citing China Central television.

Meanwhile, over 1700 cases of coronavirus have been registered in China.

The World Health Organization (WHO) says it will hold its second emergency meeting on Thursday to assess whether the coronavirus outbreak constitutes an international health emergency.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters on Wednesday, "The continued increase in cases and evidence of human-to-human transmission outside China, of course, is deeply concerning. Although the numbers outside China are still relatively small, they hold the potential for a much larger outbreak."

During the previous meeting, on Thursday last week, the WHO had said that it was 'too early' to declare the outbreak of coronavirus in China as a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC).

The virus originated in Wuhan city of China in December and has since then spread to various cities around the world.

China has imposed quarantine and travel restrictions, affecting the movement of 56 million people in more than a dozen cities, amid fears that the transmission rate will accelerate as hundreds of millions of Chinese travel for the Lunar New Year.

Health authorities around the world are taking action to prevent a global pandemic as the virus continues to spread, with cases reported in Australia, France, the United States and seven Asian countries besides China.