The number of confirmed coronavirus continues to rise at an alarming rate as countries elevate their efforts to bring nationals home from the city of Wuhan, where the infection began. The World Health Organization’s Health Emergencies Programme stated that the whole world should be on alert due to the nature of the disease and infection rate.

WHO will reconvene an emergency committee on Thursday to determine whether the outbreak of coronavirus meets the definition of a public health emergency of international concern. The potential for a much larger and deadlier outbreak seems likely at this point, despite China’s efforts to contain the virus to the country. WHO stated that its risk assessment for China was very high at the regional level and high at the global level.

Read More: Countries step up efforts to bring nationals back from Wuhan as coronavirus cases top 7,000