The Western media have a double standard when it comes to reporting on the novel coronavirus, said Brian Becker, the Executive Director of the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition.

Becker said that seasonal influenza poses a far greater risk to people's health than COVID-19.

He also said that media reports on the coronavirus are often anti-China.

"We're all part of a human family, if Chinese people get sick then people in other parts of the world get sick and vice versa, we have a need to work together to deal with public health issues," Becker said.