The head of the World Health Organization(WHO) has stressed that the world is at a “decisive point” with regard to the COVID-19 outbreak. 

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus made the remark on Thursday during a media briefing on the infectious disease. 

The WHO chief said that “for the past two days, the number of new cases reported in the rest of the world has exceeded the number of new cases in China.”

He added that “in the past 24 hours, seven countries have reported cases for the first time,” including Brazil.

The WHO chief said his message to each of these countries is to move swiftly, stressing that if they act aggressively now, they can contain this virus.

He said the epidemics in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Italy and South Korea demonstrate what this virus is capable of.

However, the WHO chief was quick to stress that COVID-19 is not an influenza and therefore, with the right measures, it can be contained.

He added that the WHO’s message continues to be that “this virus has pandemic potential and WHO is providing the tools to help every country to prepare accordingly.”

Tedros reiterated that this is not a time for fear but instead the “time for taking action now to prevent infections and save lives now.”