WHO: "no known effective" treatments for new coronavirus

The World Health Organization played down media reports on Wednesday of "breakthrough" drugs being discovered to treat people infected with the new coronavirus which is causing an epidemic in China and has spread to at least 20 other countries.

A Chinese TV report said that a research team at Zhejiang University had found an effective drug for the virus, while Britain's Sky News said researchers had made a "significant breakthrough" in developing a vaccine.

Asked about the reports, WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic said: "There is no known effective therapeutics against this 2019-nCoV (virus)."