What does declaring coronavirus a global health emergency change?

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Coronavirus has been declared a global health emergency after the outbreak spread from China to more than a dozen countries.

The World Health Organization's (WHO) announcement on Thursday came as the number of cases spiked more than tenfold in a week. China counted 9,692 confirmed cases with a death toll of 213, including 43 new fatalities.

WHO defines an international emergency as an ''extraordinary event'' that constitutes a risk to other countries and requires a coordinated international response.

But what will the declaration change concretely? Euronews spoke to medical and legal experts to find out.

Warning systems

Devi Sridhar, a professor of global public health at the University of Edinburgh, told Euronews that WHO's move was "quite important for a number reasons".

And one of those reasons is that it will help governments to move their warning systems up, the expert said.

For instance, in the UK, authorities raised the risk level of the coronavirus from low to moderate as a result of the WHO's declaration, Sridhar noted.

The announcement also imposes more disease reporting requirements on countries.

Resources

A declaration of a global health emergency typically brings greater money and resources.

"My hope is that the declaration will help trigger more resources going to poor countries," Sridhar told Euronews.

China, in this regard, is not the main worry, as noted by WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

''``The main reason for this declaration is not because of what is happening in China but because of what is happening in other countries,``'' he said on Thursday.

''Our greatest concern is the potential for this virus to spread to countries with weaker health systems which are ill-prepared to deal with it.''

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has already given $10 million (€9 million) in aid to fight the coronavirus outbreak, not just in China but in Africa.