State health officials said Wednesday that hundreds of Bay State residents are quarantined in Massachusetts to guard against coronavirus but that the “risk remains low” for the highly contagious infection.

Public Health Commissioner Monica Bharel, MD, MPH said on a conference call that a total of 608 people have been under a 14-day quarantine in the state. Of those individuals, 377 have already completed the monitoring and have been released with no symptoms.

“We at the Department of Public Health are prepared to address whatever comes our way. People should live their lives normally, and go about their normal activities,” said Bharel.

Bharel said 231 residents remain under self-quarantine and are being monitored.

She stressed that the overall risk to residents in the state “remains low.”

“We will be able to scale up as we need to,” Bharel said. “We’re preparing for whatever comes our way here in Massachusetts.”

The World Health Organization reported that the number of new cases reported outside China on Tuesday exceeded the number of new infections inside the country for the first time. The number in China was 412, while the tally in the rest of the world was 459.

About 81,000 people around the globe have been sickened by the coronavirus.

With Brazil confirming the arrival of Latin America’s first case, the virus had a toehold on every continent but Antarctica.

The illness had now spread to 37 countries, said world health officials, who simultaneously cautioned against the risks of unnecessary fears or stigma.

“We are in a fight that can be won if we do the right things,” said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.