"Most countries appreciate and support China's efforts to fight against the novel coronavirus, and we understand and respect them when they adopt or enhance quarantine measures at border entry. But in the meantime, some countries, the US in particular, have inappropriately overreacted, which certainly runs counter to WHO advice," the ministry's spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at on online briefing.

According to the diplomat, Washington has been not only unhelpful amid the crisis, but also contributed to the spread of fears around the virus.

"The US government hasn't provided any substantive assistance to us, but it was the first to evacuate personnel from its consulate in Wuhan, the first to suggest partial withdrawal of its embassy staff, and the first to impose a travel ban on Chinese travelers. What it has done could only create and spread fear, which is a very bad example," she stated.

China first detected the novel strain of coronavirus in its central city of Wuhan in late December. It has since spread within China and to over 20 other countries.

The virus has killed 361 people in China and infected over 17,000 others.

On Sunday, the first coronavirus-related death outside China was confirmed in the Philippines.