WHO: We may only be seeing the tip of the iceberg

"There’ve been some concerning instances of onward coronavirus spread from people with no travel history to China," he noted.

He warned the countries to step up efforts to prepare for 2019nCoV's possible arrival and do their utmost to contain it should it arrive.

"This means lab capacity for rapid diagnosis, contact tracing and other tools in the public health arsenal," he added. (ILKHA)