The World Health Organization on Thursday declared the Wuhan coronavirus a global emergency, as the toll in the epidemic rose to 213.

Axar.az reports citing foreign media that in its daily report on Friday, China’s National Health Commission declared that the number of confirmed cases had risen to 9,692. The country’s medical authorities have also put over 1,02,000 others under medical observation, with symptoms of respiratory illness.

The World Health Organization – the health agency of the United Nations – defines an international emergency as an “extraordinary event” that constitutes a risk to other countries and requires a coordinated international response. As many as 18 other countries, including the United States, France, Japan, Germany, Canada, South Korea, Vietnam, and India, have reported cases of the coronavirus so far.