Yesterday, on 30 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the emergence of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC). This decision by WHO Director-General (DG) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, was made following the recommendations of the Emergency Committee in its second meeting [1] convened under the International Health Regulations (IHR) (2005) [2]. In his decision, the WHO DG stressed ‘the potential for the virus to spread to countries with weaker health systems, and which are ill-prepared to deal with it’ as one major concern and the importance of ‘preventing the spread of the virus and ensuring a measured and evidence-based response’ [3].