The coronavirus is closer to expanding to a pandemic, but outbreaks in countries can still be controlled through a combination of containment and mitigation measures, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday.

Four countries – China, South Korea, Italy, and Iran – account for 93% of the nearly 110,000 cases reported by more than 100 countries worldwide, said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

“Now that the virus has invaded so many countries, the threat of a pandemic is becoming very real”, said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “But it may be the first pandemic in history to be controlled”, added he. “Whether it’s a pandemic or not, the rules of the game are the same – never give up”, said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

China has “put the epidemic under control” as South Korea reports a decline in the number of new infections, the WHO Director-General said, praising Singapore’s limited contagion measures.

“We are encouraged that Italy is taking aggressive measures to tackle the epidemic and we hope that these measures will be effective in the coming days”, emphasized Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

The number of fatal cases following the epidemic in Italy increased from to 463 people, the Civil Protection Agency announced on Monday, growing slower than the previous day. However, the total number of cases infected in Italy jumped by 24% to 9,172 people, the highest daily increase in this regard since February 21, when the first case was registered there.

Dr Michael Ryan, a WHO expert on emergencies, compares Italy’s decision to restrict movement from its northern territories to China’s relative success in focusing on the major epidemic in Wuhan, Hubei, to stop its spread to other provinces.