“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.
“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.”
What is a pandemic?
A pandemic is the worldwide spread of a new infectious disease.
It stretches over a larger area, infects more people and causes more deaths than an epidemic.
In history there have been a number of devastating pandemics including smallpox, tuberculosis and the black death, which killed more than 75million people in 1350.
In 2009 a pandemic of swine flu killed 14,286 people worldwide.
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He added: “We have never before seen a pandemic sparked by a coronavirus. And we have never before seen a pandemic that can be controlled at the same time.
“WHO has been in full response mode since we were notified of the first cases.
“We have called every day for countries to take urgent and aggressive action. We have rung the alarm bell loud and clear.”
Desperate appeal
Dr Tedros also appealed to affected countries to prevent the situation from worsening.
He said: “We cannot say this loudly enough or clearly enough or often enough: all countries can still change the course of this pandemic.
“If countries detect, test, treat, isolate, trace, and mobilise their people in their response, those with a handful of cases can prevent those cases becoming clusters and those clusters becoming community transmission.”
Of the 121,000 Covid-19 cases recorded across the world in 114 countries, more than 90 per cent are in just four nations.
Dr Tedros said in two of those – China and South Korea – there were “significantly declining epidemics”.
China, where the virus originated, has seen a total of 80,754 confirmed cases and 3,136 deaths.
But it recorded its lowest number of new infections, just 19, on Tuesday.
Surge in cases
Europe is at the centre of the latest surge in the virus, with cases in Italy soaring every day – and 60 million people on lockdown.
In Italy, where there are more than 12,000 confirmed cases, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has announced the closure of schools, gyms, museums, nightclubs and other venues across the country.
On Wednesday, Italian health officials said the death toll there had risen to 827 from 631.
Meanwhile, outbreaks are starting to accelerate in Spain, France, Germany and the UK.
Dr Tedros added 81 countries have yet to record a case of the new coronavirus, while 57 nations have 10 cases or less.
Dr Tedros praised those countries who have acted fast to contain the disease.
He said: “Several countries have demonstrated that this virus can be suppressed and controlled.
“The challenge for many countries who are now dealing with large Covid-19 clusters or community transmission is not whether they can do the same – it’s whether they will.”
While recognising some nations plagued by the killer bug are struggling with a lack of capacity and resources, he warned others are “struggling with a lack of resolve”.
He praised the drastic actions taken in China and Italy and urged all nations to take four key actions:
- prepare and be ready
- detect, protect and treat
- reduce transmission
- innovate and learn
United front needed
Responding to the WHO declaring coronavirus a pandemic, Dr Nathalie MacDermott, of King’s College London, said: “The change of term does not alter anything practically as the world has been advised for the last few weeks to prepare for a potential pandemic, which has hopefully been taken seriously by all countries.
“The use of this term, however, highlights the importance of countries throughout the world working cooperatively and openly with one another and coming together as a united front in our efforts to bring this situation under control.”
‘No symptoms’
It comes as a handful of patients who contracted coronavirus reportedly died within a matter of hours – after showing NO symptoms.
The Life Care Center, in Kirkland, Washington, said 15 of its patients had died of the new coronavirus.
Some of the patients had gone from “no symptoms to death in just a matter of a few hours”, staff warned.
Meanwhile, in Iran, by far the hardest-hit country in the Middle East, the senior vice president and two other Cabinet ministers were reported to have been diagnosed with coronavirus.
Iran reported another jump in deaths, by 62 to 354, behind only China and Italy.
For most, the coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough.
But for a few, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illnesses, including pneumonia.
According to the WHO, people with mild illness recover in about two weeks, while those with more severe illness may take three to six weeks to recover.
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