The World Health Organization (WHO), which belatedly announced a global health emergency after the outbreak of a deadly coronavirus in China and beyond, says the outbreak does not yet constitute a pandemic.

Sylvie Briand, head of WHO�s Global Infectious Hazard Preparedness division, made the assertion at a news conference in Geneva on Tuesday as she addressed the spread of the new disease.

Currently we are not in a pandemic. We are at the phase where it�s an epidemic with multiple foci, and we will try to extinguish the transmission in each of these foci, Briand told reporters.

She stressed that there was no evidence to substantiate the claim that the virus was mutating.

And she said face masks alone would not halt the coronavirus transmission.

For people who have no symptoms, the mask will not necessarily protect them 100 percent because if they don�t apply other measures, it�s not sufficient, Briand said.

Chinese authorities have adopted drastic measures to halt the transmission of the deadly virus, and other countries have also taken steps to avoid its spread.

We hope that based on those measures in Hubei but also in other places where we have had spill-over, we can stop transmission and get rid of this virus, Briand said.

The virus has claimed more than 420 lives in China since its outbreak in central Hubei Province in December last year, while total infections in the country have jumped to 20,438.

The flu-like virus has already spread to more than 20 countries, with at least 151 cases scattered around the globe.

On Tuesday, three more Asian countries - Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand - confirmed infections among citizens who had not travelled to China.

Wealthy countries slammed for failing to share virus data

Another WHO official said some wealthy countries were well behind in sharing data on coronavirus cases, calling for more global solidarity to combat the virus.

Of the 176 cases reported outside China so far, WHO has received complete case report forms for only 38 percent of cases. Some high-income countries are well behind in sharing this vital data with WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the WHO, said at a technical briefing on the virus for the UN agency�s executive board.

The new coronavirus causes severe acute respiratory infection and its symptoms usually start with a fever, followed by a dry cough.

Some countries, including the United States, Australia, Singapore, New Zealand, and Vietnam, have denied entry to foreign nationals who have recently visited China.

WHO initially refused to declare a global health emergency even as infection cases inside China were increasing dramatically.