the World Health Organization has just
said that the novel coronavirus outbreak
can be called a pandemic new outbreaks
been reported in Iraq Brazil Greece
Israel Nigeria New Zealand and the list
goes on there are now more new cases
being reported daily from outside China
than inside but what is at and emic and
why are the wh o only calling it one now
in this video we're going to look at
what that means and if it actually
changes anything so what is a pandemic
the word itself comes from the Greek for
all and people but that doesn't mean it
has to affect literally every person on
the planet and currently there's no
Universal definition that everyone
agrees on we usually use the word to
mean a new infectious illness that is
spreading uncontrollably in different
regions of the world although not
necessarily everywhere and although the
whu-oh has said people can call covert
19 a pandemic they don't give official
classifications to illnesses themselves
pandemics or such are not declared this
is a characterization or a description
of a situation and the DGA said if
there's not a change in what we do is
it's not a trigger for anything other
than more aggressive more intensive
actions so why has the w-h-o only now
called covert 19 a pandemic going by the
common definition the corona virus has
some characteristics of a pandemic it's
a new virus and was unknown to science
before December last year and it's
spreading rapidly across borders in
multiple continents despite efforts to
contain it
so it certainly appears to meet those
criteria but the w-h-o was reluctant to
use the word pandemic until March the
11th that's because although the virus
spread to different regions the majority
of cases could be linked back to a
source if we say there's a pandemic of
coronavirus we're essentially accepting
that every human on the planet will be
exposed to that virus but now the whu-oh
has used the word pandemic because in
the past two weeks the number of cases
outside China has increased 13 fold and
the number of affected countries has
tripled but they were quick to urge
caution in using this word plunder me
is not a word to use lightly or
carelessly it's a word that if misuse
can cause unreasonable fear or
unjustified acceptance that the fight is
over it's important to know that the
word pandemic doesn't tell us anything
about the severity of the virus just the
spread take mortality rates for example
whu-oh has put the global death rate
from coronavirus at around 3.4 percent
of those it infects and that number also
changes depending on which country
you're in so far more than 4,000 people
have died from the virus around the
world the mortality rate from a bola was
around 50% and it killed 11,000 people
yet Ebola was never defined as a
pandemic as it was mostly within West
and Central Africa just because
something is a pandemic it doesn't
necessarily mean that it's extremely
deadly it just means it has spread far
the last time the whu-oh declared a
pandemic for the 2009 swine flu outbreak
it was criticized by some countries for
unnecessarily spreading fear about an
illness with a death rate of around 0.02
percent I have spoken consistently about
the need for facts not fear using the
word pandemic now does not fit the facts
but it may certainly cause fear this is
not the time to focus on what word we
use does have a pandemic preparedness
plan a guide for countries on what to do
it says government should be ready to
fully mobilize health care and make
safety equipment and medical supplies
widely available and distribute it where
necessary take Victoria in Australia for
example in their worst case scenario
they say they're ready to potentially
lock down whole cities and close schools
they anticipate up to 40% of the entire
country's workforce could be sidelined
by the virus
they even say these effects could last
up to a whole year
and in the UK the government has an
emergency plan which could shut down
public transport and stop mass
gatherings and events but again these
are plans for the worst case scenario
most countries are already taking huge
steps to try and stop the viruses spread
through quarantine and restricting
travel and most countries advise that
anyone who thinks they may have come
into contact with the virus to self
isolate until the incubation period
passes and that's currently thought to
be around 14 days well those scientists
are still unsure some people argued that
labeling covert 19 as a pandemic doesn't
actually mean much as it's already being
taken seriously anyway and wouldn't
really change how countries are
responding at the moment I think it's
just a term and it probably isn't going
to make what we do different the major
risk of the virus spreading out of
control comes from it infecting those in
countries which do not have advanced
health care systems those places would
be less able to cope with an outbreak
and less effective at quarantine and
controlling infection that's when the
virus could spread rapidly and the death
toll could spike and it's a situation
the WHL desperately wants to avoid we
are not saying that the world should
move from containment to mitigation 81
countries have no cases so they should
do everything to prevent from importing
any case there are 57 countries who have
reported less than 10 cases 10 or less
cases they can cut it from the but so
there you have it that's what a pandemic
is why the corona virus has now been
declared won and what it all might mean
for how countries tackle the virus as it
spreads let us know if there's anything
you want to know in the comments below
and don't forget to Like and subscribe
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to stay up-to-date with the outbreak
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