The head of the World Health Organization officially characterized the coronavirus outbreak as a pandemic on Wednesday.
Tedros said the announcement will not affect how the WHO is confronting the spread of the virus and should not affect how countries are responding.
“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," Tedros said. “We’re in this together, to do the right things with calm and protect the citizens of the world,” he said. “It’s doable.”
The last pandemic was the 2009 swine flu, caused by the H1N1 virus. That pandemic, which was first detected in Mexico, killed an estimated 200,000 people and hit young adults and children hardest. The coronavirus pandemic is killing mostly older adults with underlying health conditions. As of Wednesday, there are more than 120,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in 114 countries, with 4,373 deaths.
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