The threat of a coronavirus pandemic is great, Jonathan Ball, professor of Virology at the University of Nottingham, told CGTN Europe. "Given the fact that we now seem to think that there may be a silent spread of the virus, I think the risk of this virus turning into a pandemic is great," he said.

"It really is early days to try to understand whether or not it will turn pandemic. But I think there is quite a high risk that it might take place." 

On January 26, the World Health Organisation (WHO) reported 2,014 cases of the virus worldwide that have spread across 11 countries. Three days before that WHO claimed that the coronavirus is not a global crisis. 

However, they did say that the virus was a local crisis as the majority of the cases are from China.