WHO declares coronavirus a global emergency

WHO director general Dr. Robert Redfield said the risk remains highest with poorer countries that do not have the resources to deal with an outbreak and contain it.

WHO has only called a global health emergency five times in the past, including for the Ebola outbreak and Zika virus.

WHO only makes a global health emergency declaration for “extraordinary events” that threaten public health across the globe.

Most recent estimates tally 7,700 people have contracted coronavirus, of whom 170 have died, according to an ABC News report.

Redfield did not believe that developed countries like Canada will need to worry about the coronavirus nearly as much as developing countries without the same levels of health care and sanitation.

This is breaking news and will be updated.