On 31 December 2019, WHO was alerted to several cases of pneumonia in Wuhan City, Hubei Province of China. The virus did not match any other known virus. This raised concern because when a virus is new, we do not know how it affects people.

One week later, on 7 January, Chinese authorities confirmed that they had identified a new virus. The new virus is a coronavirus, which is a family of viruses that include the common cold, and viruses such as SARS and MERS. This new virus was temporarily named “2019- nCoV.”

WHO has been working with Chinese authorities and global experts from the day we were informed, to learn more about the virus, how it affects the people who are sick with it, how they can be treated, and what countries can do to respond.   

• Statement on the second meeting of the International Health Regulations (2005) Emergency Committee regarding the outbreak of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV)
• SEAR Press Release - Readiness is the key to detect, combat spread of the new coronavirus

Total number of cases in South-East Asia Region - 37 (As of 09 February 2020)

For information on 2019-nCoV in SEAR countries:

• Thailand
• India
• Nepal
• Sri Lanka

More information could be obtained from the dashboard:

• Situation dashboard