WHO warns of premature predictions

The World Health Organization (WHO) warns of premature forecasts of an end to the coronavirus epidemic . It was "far too early" to say when the spread of the novel Covid-19 coronavirus could peak, said WHO expert Michael Ryan on Wednesday in Geneva. The UN health authority has been warned of a drop in new cases reported from China within the past week.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, however, urged that the stabilization of the numbers "be interpreted with extreme caution" . The outbreak could "develop in any direction," he added.

Two days earlier, US President Donald Trump caused a sensation by claiming the virus would "go away in April." He gave warmer weather as the reason.

Since the outbreak of the viral disease in central China's Hubei province in December, the death toll in China has increased to more than 1,100 and more than 44,600 people have become infected. Outside the People's Republic, there are more than 400 cases of infection in around 25 countries