WHO will meet on whether to declare a public health emergency Thursday.

The World Health Organization will decide whether or not to declare the new coronavirus, which has sickened thousands and sparked fear around the world, a public health emergency of international concern Thursday.

The organization deliberated for two days last week on the same issue but ultimately declined to declare a global emergency. Since then, however, patients from Germany, Japan, Taiwan and Vietnam have been diagnosed with the new coronavirus without having visited China.

That human-to-human transmission outside of China “worries us,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general at WHO said during a Wednesday news conference.

At last count, more than 7,700 people have been sickened by the novel coronavirus and 170 people have died from the disease. More than 90% percent of those cases, and all of the deaths, occurred in China.

According to WHO, 20% of cases are considered to be severe and 2% have been fatal. It’s expected that the fatality rate of the new coronavirus will decrease as more cases are reported, since the sickest individuals tend to seek medical treatment first.

In the United States, 165 people are under investigation for the new coronavirus. Of those individuals, 68 have tested negative and five have tested positive. The remaining individuals’ tests are in transit or have pending results.

Twenty American airports have enhanced screening passengers for signs of sickness and are distributing educational materials to people returning from China about the signs of coronavirus.

Airlines around the world have suspended some routes to China, including United, Delta, American Airlines, British Airways, Air Seoul, Lion Air, Lufthansa Group, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Air Asia, Air India, Air Canada, All Nippon Airways, Asiana Airlines and Korean Air.

This week, the U.S. government chartered a flight to evacuate 196 Americans from Wuhan, China. Those evacuees were screened and monitored for signs of illness before and throughout their flight. After landing in California, the passengers entered a voluntary three-day quarantine and will be offered testing for the virus, according to the CDC.

On Jan. 29, President Donald Trump announced that he was forming a coronavirus task force made up of top health, transportation, and national security officials. The team will coordinate efforts to respond to coronavirus and work to prevent the virus from spreading.

ABC News’ Mina Kaji contributed to this report.