Coronavirus is now spreading much more rapidly outside China than within the country, leading the world into uncharted territory, but the outbreak can still be contained, the WHO said on Monday.

Almost nine times as many cases had been reported in the past 24 hours beyond China than inside, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus

said, adding that the risk of coronavirus spreading was now very high at a “global level”.

He said outbreaks in South Korea, Italy, Iran and Japan were the greatest concern, but that there was evidence surveillance methods were working in South Korea, the worst affected country outside China, and the epidemic could be contained there.

“We are in uncharted territory — we have never seen before a respiratory pathogen that is capable of community transmission but at the same time which can also be contained with the right measures,” he told a news briefing in Geneva.

The fight against the coronavirus should become a bridge for peace, Tedros said, commending the US for supporting sending medical aid to Iran despite the tensions between them.

Finance ministers of the G7 group of leading industrialised democracies were expected to hold a conference call to discuss measures to deal with the economic impact, three sources said.

World stock markets regained some calm as hopes for global interest rate cuts to soften the economic blow steadied nerves after last week’s worst plunge since the 2008 financial crisis.

The global death toll was up to 3,044, according to a Reuters tally.

South Korea has had 26 deaths and reported another 599 infections on Monday, taking its tally to 4,335 following Saturday’s biggest daily jump. Of the new cases in South Korea, 377 were from the city of Daegu.