WHO calls on international community to prepare for potential coronavirus pandemic

World health officials on Monday said that countries across the world should prepare for a potential pandemic of coronavirus, which has now spread substantially outside China.

"Using the word pandemic now does not fit the facts, but it may certainly cause fear. We do not live in a binary world. It is not either-or. We must focus on containment while doing everything we can to prepare for a potential pandemic," Ghebreyesus said in a press brief, as quoted by the World Health Organization (WHO) on Twitter.

The WHO director-general also said that the coronavirus outbreak was a common threat for all countries, and "we can only overcome it together."

The deadly virus was first detected in China's Hubei province in December last year and has since spread to some 30 countries, prompting the WHO to declare a global health emergency.

As per the latest update, more than 77,000 people have been infected worldwide, with more than 2,600 deaths.