An advance team of the World Health Organization will arrive in Beijing later Monday for the ongoing outbreak of the novel coronavirus pneumonia, a spokesman said.

They will form a joint expert team with Chinese experts to conduct in-depth exchanges on the current situation and epidemic prevention and control, said Mi Feng, a spokesman for the National Health Commission.

The WHO team will also offer suggestions for China and other affected countries to join hands in future epidemic prevention and control, said a spokesman for the National Health Commission

They will also offer suggestions for China and other affected countries to join hands in future epidemic prevention and control, Mi said at a news conference of the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council.

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“We welcome experts from all countries including the United States to participate in the joint expert team. We believe that after consultation and communication, we can make appropriate arrangements for the joint team in China,” he said.

Dr Michael Ryan, executive director of the WHO Health Emergencies Program, said earlier that the WHO-coordinated team of global experts will cover clinical management, virology, vaccine, drug development, ecological investigation, animal health, epidemiology, public health and risk communication.

 "The team's objective is to learn from Chinese counterparts' experience in dealing with this event so that the world can learn from them," he added.

The World Health Organization is closely watching other Chinese regions for signs that new infection hot spots are emerging as the outbreak spreads beyond the epicenter of Hubei province.

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The 10 provinces, which include Zhejiang, Guangdong and Henan, have seen numbers of cases slowly rise, said WHO’s China Representative Gauden Galea, in an interview on Bloomberg TV Monday. “Those are the numbers to watch,” he said, adding that while the situation seemed under control it is too early to say the spread of the novel coronavirus has peaked.

There were a few days last week when the growth in both the number of new infected and suspected cases declined in Hubei and its capital Wuhan, Galea said. This could give “a much needed sigh of relief” to the region. “We are happier to see the numbers go down rather than up,” he said.

With Bloomberg inputs