Corona, US death toll warns citizens not to travel to China

The United States warned its citizens Thursday against traveling to China, after Beijing announced that the death toll from the new Corona virus had risen to more than 200, and the World Health Organization declared a global health emergency.

"Do not travel to China because of the new Corona virus, which appeared in Wuhan," the State Department said on its website.

She added that the Americans "who are currently in China should study the possibility of leaving the country using commercial means."

The ministry also asked on its website for all non-essential employees of the American administration to postpone their travel to China due to the virus.

The National Health Commission of China said Friday that the number of corona deaths has risen to 213 by the end of Thursday, after 1982 confirmed a new case.

In a statement, the committee said that the total number of confirmed cases inside China reached 9,692 by the end of Thursday.

Health emergencies
The World Health Organization announced earlier Thursday that the Corona virus is "a health emergency with an international dimension", but called for not to limit flights.

"Our greatest concern lies in the possibility of the virus spreading in countries where health systems are more vulnerable," said WHO Director General Tidros Adhanum Ghebriesos. Despite the spread of the virus, he stressed that the organization "does not recommend limiting trips, commercial exchanges and movement (of individuals), and is even opposed to imposing any restrictions on flights" to China.

The Geneva-based international monitoring body also warned that many countries were not ready to face the epidemic, praising, on the other hand, the "speed of action" shown by the countries and the health organization so far.

And the Chinese city of Wuhan where the disease appeared and spread, cut off from the world a week ago, in addition to almost the entire province of Hubei.

This quarantine imposed on 23 January isolated 56 million people living in these areas from the world.

For his part, the Chinese permanent representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Zhang Jun, appealed to the international community for solidarity with his country in its response to the Corona virus.

Jeon said that his country is currently going through a very important stage in dealing with the virus, warning countries of the world "excessive reaction" on the issue of trade and trips to China.