On 4 February, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres fully recognized China's efforts against the novel coronavirus outbreak. He also appealed for international solidarity and cautioned against stigmatization.

During his annual press conference for journalists at the UN headquarters, he noted that China has mobilized enormous resources and capacity to respond to the epidemic and expressed full recognition of China's efforts on behalf of the UN.

He cautioned that "in this situation, it is easy to ... move into perspectives in which there tends to be discrimination; there tends to be violation of human rights; there tends to be stigma on innocent people just because of their ethnicity or whatever. I think it's very important to avoid this".

The UN chief appealed for international solidarity and support for China and other countries that might be impacted by the epidemic. He also stressed the importance of avoiding the stigmatization of innocent victims.