In view of the evolving COVID-19 situation worldwide, China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism announced Tuesday that the public is advised not to travel to the countries at a high risk of coronavirus infection.

As global coronavirus case numbers soar, the ministry urged Chinese tourists not to visit the hard-hit countries, such as Italy, Spain, France, Germany, the U.S., Switzerland, Britain, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Austria, Belgium, Iran and South Korea, according to the advisory released on Tuesday.

The public is advised to closely follow the overseas epidemic situation, raise awareness of self-protection, and review their travel plans due to the risks of coronavirus transmission while traveling abroad, it said.

China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs also issued a travel advice earlier on Tuesday, urging Chinese citizens to avoid any travel to countries currently on high alert of the pandemic.

On Monday, the European Union (EU) announced it considered the drastic step of suspending nonessential incoming travel for at least 30 days to combat the pandemic. Before that, at least eight EU states unilaterally shut out foreign nationals or partially closed their borders to one or more neighboring countries.

On the same day, the Trump administration extended the travel ban between the U.S. and European countries to include the UK and Ireland, while Canada is also closing national borders to non-citizens.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said last week that the COVID-19 outbreak can be characterized as a "pandemic" as the virus is increasingly spreading worldwide.

There have now been more confirmed cases and deaths outside the Chinese mainland, with more than 182,000 infections worldwide and over 7,100 deaths.