The Chinese news agency said the World Health Organization does not encourage countries to evacuate citizens, but the WHO has not confirmed this information.

China's Xinhua company today reported that WHO "does not recommend evacuating citizens, calling on the international community to remain calm and not overreact" about the spread of the nCoV virus.

However, the WHO has not confirmed the statement, saying "it is still awaiting clarification" on the comments made by Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Mr. Tedros met with Chinese officials in Beijing, including Chinese President Xi Jinping, to discuss control of the infection of the nCoV virus. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told WHO Director General that China has the capacity, confidence and resources to control the epidemic soon.

The United States, Japan and several other countries are now planning to evacuate their citizens from Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, the focus of acute pneumonia. The decommissioning of flights, trains, buses in and out of Wuhan and neighboring cities affected more than 50 million people.

WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier said Tedros Director-General will fly back to Geneva, Switzerland on the evening of January 28.

On January 26, the WHO acknowledged that there was an error in the initial assessment of the global risk of the nCoV virus, saying it was "at a high level", instead of the "moderate" level previously reported.

There are currently more than 4,500 people in China suffering from acute pneumonia caused by infection with the nCoV virus, 7,000 others are suspected of being infected and are awaiting test results. The number of deaths was up to 106.