cbc WHO declares public health emergency of international concern U.S. issues 'do not travel' warning as coronavirus death toll in China rises. The U.S. State Department increased its travel advisory for China on Thursday, as the death toll from a fast-spreading virus rose to 213 and the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a global health emergency. In Hubei, the Chinese province at the centre of the epidemic, the death toll had risen to 204 and there were 9,692 cases of infection nationally as of Thursday, Chinese health authorities said. About 100 cases have been reported in 19 other countries; Italy was the latest to announce its first confirmed cases, in two Chinese tourists. There have been no deaths outside China.

213-9692 China vows coordination as virus grows 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.