The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that its emergency committee could be reconvened at short notice if necessary, following criticism from some people that it has not declared the novel coronavirus situation a global public health emergency.

"This is something that we will see," WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic told CGTN Europe when asked how likely it was that this could become an international health emergency.

"Really, what is important now is to understand the virus itself - how easily it's being transmitted between humans, how severe it is, what population groups are affected the most, what is the source of the virus - and at the same time having all health systems around the world on alert," he said.

"China shared the genetic sequence of the virus immediately after it was identified, 10 days after the first report, and this sharing of the genetic sequence helped other countries to be able to detect and test new cases."

Jasarevic said that countries were each making their own risk analysis and the WHO was working with countries to help reduce the risk of transmission.

He added that there was a need to understand the virus, gather scientific facts, and raise the level of preparedness so that countries could detect cases, treat them, and stop the spread of the virus.

"Our director-general was very clear that this is an emergency in China and we are working closely with the Chinese authorities but also with other countries that have reported confirmed cases of novel coronavirus in order to make sure that health systems are ready to quickly detect, diagnose, and treat those who are sick," said Jasarevic.

On Tuesday, WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing. They shared "the latest information on the novel coronavirus outbreak and reiterated their commitment to bring it under control," the WHO said in a statement.

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