The rapid spread of the coronavirus increased fears of a pandemic on Friday, with six countries reporting their first cases and the World Health Organization (WHO) raising its global spread and impact risk alert to "very high".
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said his organization was not underestimating the risk.
"That is why we said today the global risk is very high," he told reporters in Geneva. "We increased it from 'high' to 'very high'."