WHO Officials Rush to Figure Out Size of Coronavirus Epidemic

'How big is the iceberg?' Dr. Mike Ryan told reporters on Thursday

Women wearing masks are seen on a bus in downtown Shanghai, China, as the country is hit by an outbreak of a new coronavirus on Feb. 13, 2020. Aly Song/Reuters

World Health Organization (WHO) officials are rushing to try to figure out how widespread the new coronavirus outbreak is after Chinese authorities reported a slew of new cases and deaths overnight.

Figures from the Chinese Communist Party are widely considered to be unreliable, but the even the official numbers show a stark jump in the number of cases and deaths, prompting WHO officials to work on the scope of the outbreak.