Global emergency declared amid Coronavirus outbreak

Wuhan : With death toll crossing 200 in China due to coronavirus attack, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared a global emergency amid reports of patients erupting from several places across the world.

The total number of deaths in Hubei, the epicenter of virus outbreak in China, is 204 with approximately 10,000 people affected from it, said Chinese authorities. About 100 cases have been reported in at least 18 other countries, with no deaths outside China.

Amid the official reports of confirming coronavirus infected people in 18 countries, Italy became the latest to declare its first confirmed case.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said the government had decided to close all air traffic between Italy and China, a more drastic measure than most countries have undertaken.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, said the organization "doesn't recommend - and actually opposes" restrictions on travel or trade with China.

Nonetheless, foreign governments have been flying home their citizens from Hubei and holding them in quarantine, while airlines including Air France , American Airlines and British Airways have stopped flying to mainland China.

Stocks around the globe have tumbled amid rising concerns of coronavirus outbreak.