The World Health Organization declared coronavirus a pandemic Wednesday. But what does that mean and why did it take so long?
A pandemic is a global outbreak of a serious new illness that requires “sustained transmission throughout the world," Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told USA TODAY in February.
But by definition, a pandemic doesn't require that scale of destruction. In reality, it's a loosely-defined term. Tedros said the WHO was aware the word pandemic could "cause unreasonable fear, or unjustified acceptance that the fight is over" if incorrectly used.Here's what you need to know about why the spread of coronavirus COVID-19 has been declared a pandemic:The WHO cited inaction as a major reason for making the declaration at this time.
As of Wednesday, there were more than 118,000 cases spread out over 114 countries, Tedros said. More than 4,000 people have died.The organization previously defined a pandemic as "the worldwide spread of a new disease." But there is no strict definition for how serious the illness should be, and previous pandemics have varying fatality rates.
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