Health ministers from G7 countries will hold a long-distance conversation to discuss plans for coordinating the response to corona pneumonia.

"The meeting will take place by telephone this afternoon," the French Foreign Ministry announced.

German Health Minister Jens Spahn said he had spoken with his US counterpart earlier, confirming that G7 health officials need to discuss the goals of dealing with pneumonia caused by the new strain of coronavirus (nCoV). "There is no reason for each country to decide on its own handling measures," he added.

Italian Health Minister Roberto Sperenza said the pneumonia epidemic needed to be addressed on a global scale. "Currently each country acts individually, while what we need is to share action among international organizations," added Minister Sperenza.

The outbreak of acute pneumonia caused by nCoV in Wuhan City began in December 2019, spreading to 31 provinces and cities in China. The number of nCoV infections worldwide has exceeded 17,000, occurring in 25 countries and territories, forcing the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare a global emergency.

Incubation period of 2-14 days, the virus can spread through the fluids when coughing and sneezing before the symptoms appear like other respiratory infections. The first death from nCoV outside China was confirmed yesterday when a man from Wuhan died in the Philippines.

France is the first European country to report a positive case for nCoV. Italy last week announced that it would stop all flights to and from China as a precaution, while the US issued a ban on entry to foreign nationals if they had just arrived from China.

Countries with Wuhan pneumonia patients. Click on the image to see details.