The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has again called on countries not to restrict international travel unnecessarily.

 

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reiterated that because of the new coronavirus it is not necessary to take measures “that unnecessarily disrupt international travel and trade”.

Tedros made a similar statement last week when he described the outbreak of the lung virus as an international emergency.

In China, at least 17,000 people have been infected with the virus, which has now also emerged in more than 20 other countries.

Many countries take emergency measures to prevent the virus from spreading. For example, the Czech government announced on Monday that air traffic to and from China would soon be discontinued.

The Chinese envoy to the WHO called on the international community on Monday “not to panic” about the outbreak.