Explanation:
On March 11, the World Health Organization (WHO) upgraded the status of the COVID-19 outbreak from epidemic to pandemic. Here are five important pieces of information on what this means for you and your community.
1) What’s the difference between an epidemic and a pandemic?
Before WHO March 11 announcement, the COVID-19 outbreak was being described by the UN health agency as an epidemic. This means that it had spread to many people, and many communities, at the same time.
By labelling the spread a pandemic, WHO was indicating that the virus was now a worldwide phenomenon. The decisions also reflects the WHO's concern at what it calls the “alarming levels of the coronavirus spread, severity and inaction”, and the expectation that the number of cases, deaths and affected countries will continue to climb.
2) Should I now be more worried about COVID-19?
A UN staff member sanitizes her hands at UN Headquarters in New York.
A UN staff member sanitizes her hands at UN Headquarters in New York. , by UN Photo/Loey Felipe
Calling COVID-19 a pandemic does not mean that it has become more deadly, it is an acknowledgement of its global spread.
Tedros Adhananon Ghebreyesus, the head of WHO, said as much at a media briefing held on March 11, when he insisted that the pandemic label does not change WHO’s assessment of the threat posed by the virus: “It doesn’t change what WHO is doing, and it doesn’t change what countries should do”.
Tedros also called on the world not to fixate on the word “pandemic”, but to focus instead on five other words or phrases, beginning with “p”: Prevention, Preparedness, Public health, Political leadership and People.
The WHO chief acknowledged that the COVID-19 spread is the first pandemic to be caused by a coronavirus (i.e. any of the large variety of viruses that cause illnesses ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases).
However, he also pointed out that all countries can still change the course of this pandemic, and that it is the first ever, that can actually be controlled.
3) What should countries do?
As the COVID-19 spreads in the United States, an increasing number of New Yorkers appear to have started wearing face masks as a precaution against the virus.
As the COVID-19 spreads in the United States, an increasing number of New Yorkers appear to have started wearing face masks as a precaution against the virus., by UN Photo/Loey Felipe
WHO reiterated its call for countries to detect, test, treat, isolate, trace, and mobilize their citizens, to ensure that those with just a handful of cases can prevent wider spread throughout the community.
There is considerable concern that many countries are not acting quickly enough, or taking the urgent and aggressive action that the health agency says is required.
Even before the pandemic announcement, WHO was advocating a whole-of-government approach to dealing with the crisis, on the basis that every sector, not just the health sector, is affected.
Even countries in which the virus has spread throughout the community, or within large population clusters, can still turn the tide of the pandemic, said Tedros, adding that several nations have shown that the virus can be suppressed and controlled
