"The United Nations is fully committed to supporting China in its efforts to contain the virus," said Steiner on the sidelines of the UNDP launching event of "Mission 1.5," a campaign that seeks public opinion and aims to bridge the gap between people and governments on ambitious climate action.
"We should also work together as an international community in supporting China, but also with China on avoiding that the virus spreads further," he added.
Noting that it is "a very difficult, a very challenging moment," the administrator said that "the world needs to appreciate how dramatic a set of developments this represents."
"It is a moment in which we are reminded why we have a United Nations, and why the World Health Organization is so critical and how important it is that national health authorities recognize the seriousness of a virus such as this," he said.
"Our hope is that it will soon have peaked so that we are able to look back on the last few weeks as a terrible reminder of how quickly we are in an interdependent world affected by such a development," said Steiner.
Steiner, the third highest-ranking UN official, extended "his great deal of empathy and sympathy" to all the citizens of China and all others "who are affected at the moment by the virus."
"On behalf of the United Nations Development Programme that has offered and contributed to the efforts now being undertaken in China, we remain fully committed to working with China and its citizens on addressing this issue wherever we can be of use," he said.
The UNDP is donating critical medical supplies through initial emergency funding of 500,000 U.S. dollars, to help China's frontline health personnel combat the novel coronavirus epidemic.
The first batch of supplies was handed over to the Chinese Ministry of Commerce for distribution at the UN Compound in Beijing on Wednesday. Included in the initial shipment are patient monitoring systems, infusion pumps, and other medical equipment.
In addition, much-needed shipments of personal protective equipment (PPE) would be reportedly arriving soon, which are vital to reduce the infection risk facing the frontline health personnel, according to a UNDP press release published Wednesday.