Even at a rising rate, the World Health Organization says it doesn’t yet consider the deadly coronavirus outbreak to be a pandemic.
The virus which is increasing day by day, with around 77,000 cases of COVID-19 and more than 2,600 deaths across the globe, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Monday said we aren’t yet “witnessing the uncontained global spread of this coronavirus.” However, he added that the virus has pandemic potential.
“Using the word pandemic now does not fit the facts, but it may certainly cause fear,” said Ghebreyesus. “We must focus on containment while doing everything we can to prepare for a potential pandemic.”
"For the moment, we are not witnessing the uncontained global spread of this #coronavirus, and we are not witnessing large-scale severe disease or death.
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) February 24, 2020
Does this virus have pandemic potential? Absolutely.
Are we there yet? From our assessment not yet"-@DrTedros #COVID19
The novel coronavirus which begins in Wuhan, China, and cases have been confirmed in the US, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Australia. Over the weekend, worries increased about the global spread of the virus as South Korea’s confirmed cases of COVID-19 spiked to over 600, and WHO reported 67 new cases in Italy.
