World Health Organization Declares COVID-19 A 'Pandemic.' Here's What That Means

The WHO Just Declared Coronavirus COVID-19 ... https://time.com/5791661/who-coronavirus-pa...
World Health Organization Declares COVID-19 a

'Pandemic.' Here's What That Means
BY JAMIE DUCHARME
MARCH 11, 2020 12:39 PM EDT
T he World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11 declared COVID-19 a

pandemic, pointing to the over 118,000 cases of the coronavirus illness in
over 110 countries and territories around the world and the sustained risk of
further global spread.
“This is not just a public health crisis, it is a crisis that will touch every sector,”
said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, at a media
briefing. “So every sector and every individual must be involved in the fights.”
An epidemic refers to an uptick in the spread of a disease within a specific

community. By contrast, the WHO defines a pandemic as global spread of a new
disease, though the specific threshold for meeting that criteria is fuzzy. The
term is most often applied to new influenza strains, and the CDC says it’s used
when viruses “are able to infect people easily and spread from person to person
in an efficient and sustained way” in multiple regions. The declaration refers to
the spread of a disease, rather than the severity of the illness it causes.
Keep up to date with our daily coronavirus newsletter by clicking here.
In some ways, declaring a pandemic is more art than science. “Pandemics mean
different things to different people,” National Institute of Allergy and
Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci said in February. “It really is
borderline semantics, to be honest with you.”
During multiple prior press briefings, WHO officials maintained that COVID-19
had “pandemic potential,” but stopped short of declaring it one. The agency
did, in January, call it a public health emergency of international concern, a
slightly different label that refers to an “extraordinary event” that
1 of 4 11/3/20 17:33
“constitute[s] a public health risk to other States through the international

spread of disease.”
“Pandemic is not a word to use lightly or carelessly. It is a word that, if

misused, can cause unreasonable fear, or unjustified acceptance that the fight
is over, leading to unnecessary suffering and death,” said Dr. Tedros on March
11. “Describing the situation as a pandemic does not change WHO’s assessment
of the threat posed by this coronavirus. It doesn’t change what WHO is doing,
and it doesn’t change what countries should do.”
SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is thought to have first jumped
from an animal host to humans in Wuhan, China. At least at first, most cases
were seen within China and among people who had traveled there, as well as
those travelers’ close contacts. While these cases were concerning, they did
suggest a pandemic, because there was not significant spread outside of China.
But as the total number of infections rose, so too did the number of cases that
spread from person-to-person within communities around the world. Cases
have now been confirmed on every continent except Antarctica, and secondary
disease hotspots have emerged in places such as South Korea, Italy and Iran.
All of these factors helped inform the WHO’s pandemic declaration, which
signals to the world that continued spread is likely, and that countries should
prepare for the possibility of widespread community transmission. It may also
inform travel policy, and prompt cities and countries to flesh out plans for
quarantines and possible disruptions to public events, if the need arises. It can
also kickstart the expedited development of therapeutics and vaccines.
2 of 4 11/3/20 17:33
SPOTLIGHT STORY
The WHO Estimated

COVID-19 Mortality at
3.4%. That Doesn't Tell
the Whole Story
Here's why the real number may

be much lower.
A pandemic declaration is fairly unusual. Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome

(SARS), a coronavirus related to COVID-19, and which infected about 8,000
people across 26 countries in 2003, did not reach pandemic status, for example.
The WHO last used the label during the 2009 H1N1 (or “swine flu”) outbreak,
but got pushback for that choice. Critics argued that the situation was not
serious enough to warrant a pandemic declaration, and that giving it one
caused unnecessary panic and precautions.
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3 of 4 11/3/20 17:33
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The WHO Just Declared Coronavirus COVID-19 ... https://time.com/5791661/who-coronavirus-pa...

World Health Organization Declares COVID-19 a

T he World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11 declared COVID-19 a

An epidemic refers to an uptick in the spread of a disease within a specific

Keep up to date with our daily coronavirus newsletter by clicking here.

“constitute[s] a public health risk to other States through the international

“Pandemic is not a word to use lightly or carelessly. It is a word that, if

The WHO Estimated

Here's why the real number may

A pandemic declaration is fairly unusual. Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome

MOST POPULAR ON TIME

1 WHO Declares COVID-19 a 'Pandemic'

2 Why Is Italy's Coronavirus Outbreak So Bad?

Get our Health Newsletter. Sign up to

Enter your email address Choose your country

I can confirm I have read and accept the Terms Of Use.

WRITE TO JAMIE DUCHARME AT JAMIE.DUCHARME@TIME.COM.

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