China vowed on Friday to work with the international community to uphold regional and international health security, and reiterated it has the confidence and capability to win the battle against the novel coronavirus epidemic, which has claimed 213 lives throughout the country as of Thursday.
The pledge came as the World Health Organization declared on Thursday that the outbreak constitutes a public health emergency of international concern, or PHEIC, following an emergency meeting in Geneva, Switzerland.
The number of confirmed cases of novel coronavirus rose to 9,692 on the Chinese mainland as of Thursday, among which, Hubei province — the epicenter of the outbreak — reported 5,806 confirmed infections. The Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions as well as Taiwan reported 28 confirmed cases of the disease as of Thursday. The virus has also spread to several other Asian nations and reached Australia and Europe as well.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States said Thursday that an Illinois woman who recently returned from China had transmitted the coronavirus to her husband — the first known case of persontoperson spread of the pathogen in the US.