TEHRAN, Feb. 03 (MNA) – A Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman condemned the United States for spreading panic instead of providing help on the new coronavirus.

The United States has created and spread panic following the outbreak of the coronavirus infection in China, but failed to provide any substantial help to Beijing to contain the virus, Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Monday, Sputnik reported.

Some 361 people have succumbed to the new coronavirus since its outbreak in December in Wuhan, China. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared a global health emergency as the contagion continued spreading further with cases of infection and one fatality reported abroad.

She expressed hope that the global community will make reasonable, calm, and science-based judgments and responses to the situation.

"Most countries have said that they appreciate and support China's efforts in the fight against the new type of coronavirus and we understand and respect their [decision] to impose a quarantine on the border or introduce required measures regarding entry for Chinese citizens", Hua Chunying told a briefing.

The new strain of coronavirus, 2019-nCoV, was first detected in the Chinese city of Wuhan, Hubei Province, in December and has since spread to more than 20 countries. On Sunday, the first death outside of China was reported in the Philippines, where a 44-year-old man, a Wuhan resident, died.

MNA/Sputnik