FILE PHOTO: France's President Emmanuel Macron attends a news conference after the second day of the European Union leaders summit, held to discuss the EU's long-term budget for 2021-2027, in Brussels, Belgium, February 21, 2020. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir

PARIS (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday called the coronavirus outbreak a “crisis, an epidemic that is on the way”.

Macron was speaking to doctors and other healthcare professionals at a Paris hospital.