UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has urged all countries to step up efforts to fight coronavirus, UN press service reported.

The UN chief said in a message released late on Wednesday, that the new pandemic phase in the fight, was “a call for responsibility and solidarity – as nations united, and as people united.”

“As we fight the virus, we cannot let fear go viral”, he said adding that “together, we can still change the course of this pandemic – but that means addressing inaction.”

"The best science tells us, if countries detect, test, treat, isolate, trace and mobilize their people in the response, we can go a long way to mitigating transmission.”

He urged every government to step up and scale up their efforts, adding that “as we mourn all those who have lost their lives and the many families who are suffering, we must show solidarity with the most vulnerable – the elderly, the sick, those without reliable healthcare, and those on the edge of poverty.”

The coronavirus oubreak was recorded at the end of December 2019 in Wuhan. The World Health Organization (WHO) has recognized it as a pandemic.