Paris – New French health minister Olivier Veran said on Tuesday there is a “credible risk” China’s coronavirus outbreak could turn into a pandemic, spreading across the world.
“This is both a working assumption and a credible risk,” Veran told France Info radio.
He said France was ready to deal with all the possibilities and its health system was sufficiently robust and well-equipped.
Four patients who tested positive for the virus remained in hospital in France, he added. An 80-year-old Chinese tourist died from the coronavirus in France last week, the first fatality in Europe.
The death toll in China has climbed to 1,868.