Virus spreads to new countries as top official warns world 'not ready'

New coronavirus cases surged outside of China on Tuesday, leaving an Iranian deputy minister among the stricken and triggering mass disruption as a top health official warned the world is not prepared for containing the epidemic.

At the World Health Organization headquarters in Geneva, Bruce Aylward, who headed an international expert mission to China, hailed measures taken there but told reporters that other nations were"simply not ready" for reining in the outbreak.- Travel and trade routes - The WHO, the UN health agency, has called for countries to"prepare for a potential pandemic" -- a term used to describe an epidemic that spreads throughout the world.In the Middle East, Iran has emerged as a major hotspot.

Scores of events, including K-pop concerts, have been cancelled or postponed in the world's 12th-largest economy. Nearly 700 people from the quarantined ship have tested positive for the illness so far. Infections have also spiked in Japan, with at least 164 cases including one death.

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