World Health Organization

Several Balkan countries have stepped up health safety measures at airports and border crossings and issued protection information to their citizens, as concern spreads about a potential outbreak in the region of the coronavirus, which has killed dozens of people in China.

China has the necessary capabilities and resources to defeat the pneumonia caused by the new type of coronavirus, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said today at a meeting with the leader of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adanu Ghebreyesus.

Amid the coronavirus outbreak, Turkey on Jan. 27 urged its citizens not to travel China unless it is necessary.

"It is highly recommended that our citizens do not travel to China unless it is necessary and if they travel there, they should stay away from the regions where the [coronavirus] cases are seen, especially in Hubei province," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The Ministry has introduced a phone line that can be reached by all citizens if they have any symptoms of respiratory infections or suspected respiratory infections coming from the Chinese city of Wuhan and other areas affected by the virus.

Also, as reported by Srna and Blic, governments and other officials in all countries are advised to take precautionary measures, the WHO website said.

The dangerous coronavirus continues to spread. A second city in China imposed a state of emergency in an attempt to stem the spread of the infection. After Wuhan, an urban city of 6 million, stopped traffic and planes, and residents were urged not to leave, he said.

There are currently 17 coronavirus deaths, with a total of 570 infected in several countries.

The Chinese krait and the Chinese cobra  may be the original source of the newly discovered coronavirus that has triggered an outbreak of a deadly infectious respiratory illness in China this winter, CNN reported.

Bungarus, also known as Taiwanese or Chinese krait, is a highly venomous snake species found in much of central and southern China and Southeast Asia.

Turkey has prepared thermographic cameras and other precautionary measures against the spread of the new flu-like coronavirus, but there are currently no cases or patients at risk, the Health Ministry said.

The number of the death cases has increased to 9 with 440 confirmed cases.

Serbia is ready to carry out health surveillance at border crossings if the World Health Organization today declares a global health emergency.

Turkey has completed its precautions against the new flu-like coronavirus even though the country does not carry the risk of a possible outbreak, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca has said.

Speaking in an interview with state-run Anadolu Agency, the minister said that no patients carrying the coronavirus have been detected and the country does not carry the risk.