The World Health Organisation (WHO) is urging countries to begin preparing for a global pandemic as the novel coronavirus continues to spread.
There have been 2700 deaths as a result of the deadly COVID-19 disease with about 81,000 people infected worldwide.
But what defines a pandemic? And why hasn't one been declared already?
So what exactly is a pandemic?
According to WHO, it's the worldwide spread of a "new disease".
WHO says viruses that have caused past pandemics typically originated from animal influenza viruses - such as swine flu which originated in pigs.
But unlike other viruses, pandemics can have strange patterns and outbreaks can also happen during summer.
A pandemic hasn't been declared yet - why?
WHO says it's too early to declare a pandemic but some experts have questioned this.
"I think you could have people arguing each end of it," said the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIH) director Dr Anthony Fauci, as reported by CNN.
"Pandemics mean different things to different people," he said.
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Center (CDC) for Immunisation and Respiratory Diseases director Dr Nancy Messonnier said COVID-19 had already met two factors that define a pandemic - an illness that has caused death and the way it spreads between people.
"As community spread is detected in more and more countries, the world moves closer towards meeting the third criteria: [the] worldwide spread of the new virus," she told CNN.
When will a pandemic be declared?
It's hard to put a date on it, although experts say it's not a matter of if, but when.
"It's not a question of if. It's a question of when and how many people will be infected," said CDC principal deputy director Anne Schuchat.
The US has reported 57 cases of the virus and critics say President Donald Trump is downplaying the virus's potential impact on the nation.
He said the country was in "great shape" to handle a looming health crisis.
House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday (local time), dismissed that.
"I don't think the president knows what he's talking about, once again," she told reporters.
What is New Zealand doing?
The Ministry of Health says New Zealand is "ready to go" if a coronavirus pandemic is declared globally.
Dr Ashley Bloomfield, director-general of health, said on Tuesday while WHO hasn't declared a pandemic, the country should be prepared.
"We are doing this preparation to put ourselves on a footing that if a pandemic were to be declared, we would be ready to go and modify our response accordingly in a timely way."
Those preparations include having clinical equipment ready while there would also be potential for community-based assessment centres to be set up - last used in Canterbury in 2009 during the swine flu outbreak.
However, some doctors have complained that they're experiencing people who've come from coronavirus-infected countries turning up with fevers and flu-like symptoms.
Warkworth doctor and Medical Association chair Dr Kate Baddock said the Ministry of Health needs to remove the reference from its website about getting in touch with your doctor if you have symptoms.
There's also concern doctors' clinics are lacking full protective equipment.
The Ministry of Health said in a statement it's aware there's some concern out there around the supply levels.
"We're working with DHBs and PHOs to ensure the supply of personal protective equipment to general practice."
What will declaring a pandemic do?
The NZ Influenza Pandemic Action Plan, introduced in 2002, outlines what measures the Ministry of Health would take should a pandemic be declared.
Those measures include ensuring sufficient staff members are trained, undertaking national intelligence and planning, providing information and advice to ministers, liasing with other Government agencies, overseeing the health and disability response nationally, and providing public health information.
"We are moving to plan as if a pandemic had already been declared," Dr Bloomfied told reporters on Tuesday.
Reuters / Newshub.
