The World Health Organisation (WHO) says the world must do everything to prepare for a potential coronavirus pandemic but insisted it was premature to declare the outbreak a pandemic as it still could be beaten.

Key points: WHO director-general Mr Tedros said coronavirus absolutely had pandemic potential

WHO director-general Mr Tedros said coronavirus absolutely had pandemic potential China has decided to postpone its annual congress over fear of the coronavirus outbreak

China has decided to postpone its annual congress over fear of the coronavirus outbreak Coronavirus cases outside Asia continue to grow, with the largest number of cases in Italy

"The key message that should give all countries hope, courage and confidence is that this virus can be contained, indeed there are many countries that have done exactly that," WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

"Using the word 'pandemic' now does not fit the facts but may certainly cause fear," he added as the number of cases continued to mount internationally and financial markets spun lower.

"We must focus on containment while doing everything we can to prepare for a potential pandemic."

China has reported a total of 77,362 cases of COVID-19 and 2,618 deaths. Outside China, there are now 2,074 cases in 28 countries and 23 deaths, according to WHO figures.

Mr Tedros said a sudden increase of cases in Italy, Iran and South Korea were "deeply concerning" but for now authorities were not seeing an uncontained global spread of the virus or witnessing widespread serious cases or deaths.

The WHO already declared a public health emergency of international concern, its "highest level of alarm", last month when there were fewer than 100 cases outside China and eight cases of human-to-human transmission of the COVID-19 virus.

"Does this virus have pandemic potential? Absolutely, it has," Dr Tedros said.

"Are we there yet? From our assessment, not yet."

Fears of a pandemic grew after the sharp rises in new cases reported, although China relaxed restrictions on movement in several places including Beijing as its rates of new infections eased.

WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said coronavirus had pandemic potential. ( Reuters: Denis Balibouse )

The Geneva-based WHO declared the 2009 H1N1 swine flu outbreak a pandemic, which turned out to be mild, leading to some criticism after pharmaceutical companies rushed development of vaccines and drugs.

China postpones annual congress amid virus fears

Meanwhile, China's top legislative body formally decided to postpone the annual meeting of parliament originally scheduled to start on March 5.

State television said the new date for the meetings, which typically last for 10 days, would be set later.

The meeting would not be delayed for too long, the report added without elaborating.

It is the first time since the current March schedule was adopted in 1995 that the meeting of parliament has been postponed.

China had been considering delaying the meeting since earlier this month.

The legislative body also formally decided to ban wildlife consumption and severely crack down on illegal wildlife trade in China, the report said.

Wildlife is believed to be the source of the virus responsible for the epidemic.

Virus cases grow outside China

Italy cancelled public events following the largest coronavirus outbreak outside Asia. ( AP: Luigi Costantini )

The outbreak of coronavirus took aim at a broadening swathe of the globe, with officials in Europe and the Middle East scrambling to limit the spread of an outbreak that showed signs of stabilising at its Chinese epicentre but posed new threats far beyond.

In Italy, authorities set up roadblocks, called off football matches, cancelled the last two days of the Venice Carnival and shuttered sites including the famed La Scala opera house in Milan as 230 people were infected and the death toll rose to 7.

In Iran, the government said 12 people had died nationwide and 61 were infected, while five neighbouring countries — Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman and Afghanistan — reported their first cases of the virus, with all those infected having links to Iran.

South Korea has gone from dealing with a couple of dozen COVID-19 cases to being the next frontier for containing coronavirus, as numbers of infected people soared to above 800.

Across the world, stock markets and futures tumbled on fears of a global economic slowdown due to the expanding spread of the virus.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank more than 1,000 points, its biggest decline in two years.

Reuters/AP