New Delhi | Jagran News Desk: The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Wednesday declared the novel coronavirus as ‘pandemic’. Alarmed by the spread and severity of the COVID-19 outbreak, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that coronavirus can be characterised as a ‘pandemic’.  

Ghebreyesus also said that he expected the number of cases and deaths would grow in the coming days and weeks, adding that hard-hit Iran was trying its best to control the outbreak but needed more supplies.

“We are deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity and by the alarming levels of inaction. We have therefore made the assessment that COVID-19 can be characterised as a pandemic,” he said, as quoted by AFP.

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“We have therefore made the assessment that COVID-19 can be characterised as a pandemic,” he said.

So as the WHO declared coronavirus outbreak ‘pandemic’, here’s what it means and how it is different from epidemic:

According to WHO, a disease is declared pandemic when it spreads worldwide. Pandemic is a term which is associated with the geographical spread and not with characteristic of the disease. In simple words, a pandemic disease is no longer restricted to a particular area or a country.

When a disease is declared pandemic, it means that comunity spread will eventually happen and the government should be prepared for it to contain the spread.

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How pandemic is different from epidemic?

According to WHO, epidemic means when there is a sudden increase in cases of an illness or disease that can be unique to one country or community. It affects lesser number of people and is confined to a certain place. The word epidemic originated from the Greek word ‘epidemia’ while pandemic originated from the ‘pandemos’ which means to “all people”.

How many people have been affected by the deadly coronavirus?

According to AFP, the number of cases in over 100 countries around the world has risen to more than 124,000, with over 4,500 deaths, including a jump in fatalities in Iran and Italy in particular. China remains the worst-affected country with more than 80,000 confirmed cases and over 3,000 deaths.

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