These include South Korea, which has seen more than 1,100 people infected, and Italy, with more than 300 confirmed cases.The global spread of the new coronavirus: Where is it?
"What we see are epidemics in different parts of the world, affecting countries in different ways and requiring a tailored response," said Tedros.public health emergencyUnder its old warning system, which had six stages of alert, the WHO could simply start referring to coronavirus as a pandemic, which comes from the Ancient Greek for"pan demos": all people."Definitions and terminology aside, our advice remains the same," said WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic.
For Bharat Pankhania, of the University of Exeter Medical School in England, coronavirus is already a pandemic"in all but name". "It's only a matter of time before the World Health Organisation starts to use the term in its communications," he said.David Heymann, professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine said the terminology risked being a distraction.Tedros did hint that designating the outbreak a pandemic prematurely might do more harm than good."Using the word pandemic now does not fit the facts, but it may certainly cause fear.
He added that even if a pandemic is declared, the world alone"will not prevent a single infection today or save a single life today."
What if you are living with someone who is sick and vulnerable but refuses to take necessary precautions?
What's the difference between pandemic and epidemic?