The World Health Organization said the coronavirus that’s infected more than 8,200 people across the world is a global health emergency, according to an article on the CNBC website.
The designation, which is rarely given, helps the international agency mobilize financial and political support to contain the outbreak.
The announcement comes after the U.S. confirmed its first human-to-human transmission of the virus.
The coronavirus has infected more people than the 2003 SARS epidemic, which sickened roughly 8,100 people over nine months.