Coronavirus Outbreak Officially Reaches ‘Global Pandemic’ Level

The World Health Organization announced that the outbreak of the emerging coronavirus has reached the “global pandemic” level. In the past two weeks, the number of people infected with this virus outside of China has increased 13-fold, and the number of affected countries has tripled.

On Wednesday evening, 21 Esfand (11 March), Tedros Adhanom, Director-General of the World Health Organization, announced that the outbreak of “SARS-CoV-2” virus worldwide has reached the level of a pandemic, meaning “an epidemic at a large-scale universal level.”

Stating that the organization under his leadership has been monitoring the spread of this virus around the clock, he said: “We are deeply concerned about the alarming levels of spread and severity of COVID-19, and by the alarming levels of inaction. We have therefore made the assessment that COVID-19 can be characterized as a pandemic.”

Adhanom predicted that the number of patients may increase in the coming days and weeks.

Outbreak in 115 Countries

The Director-General of the World Health Organization noted that the number of COVID-19 cases outside of China has increased 13-fold in the past two weeks. The number of countries affected by this disease has tripled.

According to this Ethiopian official, more than 118,000 cases have been confirmed in 115 countries. By Wednesday, 4,291 people have died from this disease.

Adhanom stressed that all countries can still change the course of this pandemic. He said: “Find them. Test them. Treat them. Isolate them.”

He also emphasized that classifying this disease as a “pandemic” will not affect the assessment of the threat posed by this virus.

There is no specific criterion set by the World Health Organization for classifying a disease as a “global pandemic.”

Typically, this designation is used for diseases that spread without control across several continents.

Source: DW