UPDATE 1-Countries must shift mindset to virus preparedness -WHO expert

Countries around the world need to think about preparing for an outbreak of the novel coronavirus and be ready to respond rapidly when it arrives, a top World Health Organization (WHO) expert said on Tuesday.

"Think the virus is going to show up tomorrow," Dr. Bruce Aylward, head of the joint WHO-Chinese mission on the outbreak, told reporters on return to Geneva. "If you don't think that way, you're not going to be ready," he said, noting that this is an "incredibly interconnected world".

Aylward repeatedly stressed the importance of educating the public to get them on board for the anti-virus effort "Get organised, use the time you are trying to buy well because it is going to save lives," he said.

Aylward said China's "extraordinary mobilisation" to handle the virus outbreak showed how aggressive public health policy steps could curb the disease's spread. Authorities should prepare hospital beds, isolation zones, respirators and oxygen for severe cases, he said. Plans should be in place to transport and test suspected victims of the disease that has sickened tens of thousands of people.

"China knows how to keep people alive," Aylward said. Referring to his two-week visit to Beijing and three other provinces, including Hubei and the epidemic's centre, Wuhan, he said: "It is staggering. Every person you talk to there has a sense of responsibility, they are mobilised like in a war against this virus."

Iran's coronavirus death toll rose to 16, the highest outside China, increasing its international isolation as nations from South Korea to Italy accelerated emergency measures to curb the epidemic's global spread.