The World Health Organization still refuses to declare COVID-19 as pandemic despite its global spread soars by the hour. The reason may be with what will happen when we deploy the P-word.
Countries already have plans on what to do when a pandemic is already declared, but these measures may not be appropriate in fighting the COVID-19. WHO advises countries not to make any rash decisions not until the outbreak is declared a pandemic.
WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that it is the matter of seeing the numbers in perspective for it to be finally called a pandemic. COVID-19 must satisfy first the three criteria for a pandemic: if it spreads between people, and it kills.
The third criterion is that it has to spread worldwide. As of date, the number of cases has already reached 89,000 globally, with 90% are in China, of which the vast majority of infections are centered in one province, Hubei.
How much more do you think should the number go up before it is declared a pandemic?
In a press briefing on the coronavirus at the WHO headquarters in Geneva on March 2, the director-general assured the public that the organization will not hesitate to describe this outbreak as a pandemic if the evidence suggests. But as for now, it still hasn't.
Recent reports say that the number of cases in China continues to fall with only eight new cases outside Hubei province on March 1. Additionally, China has also reported the lowest number of new cases on that day since January 22.
For the past 24 hours, there were almost nine times more cases are reported outside China than in China, said Dr. Tedros.
About eight percent of the 9,000 cases that can be found outside China are in four countries-South Korea, Italy, Iran and Japan. These four countries should be "our greatest concern", he said.
Out of all the countries with reported cases, 38 among them have 10 or fewer cases, while 100 countries around the globe have no confirmed case.
Dr. Tedros added that a lot of the countries have already contained the virus in their countries and have not reported any new cases for the last two weeks.
South Korea has now 5,000 cases which means it has the largest spread of the virus outside China and more than 50% of the cases outside China. COVID-19 has spread mostly to five known clusters and only a few in the community which indicates that the surveillance measures taken by the South Korean government are effective and it can be contained.
Although we are currently battling a virus that we have little knowledge about, it is good to know that this never before seen respiratory pathogen capable of community infection can be contained.
The general-director of WHO is confident that the transmission of COVID-19 can be stopped.
This should be all the countries top priority, he said: "With early, aggressive measures, countries can stop the transmission and save lives."
Dr. Tedros further advised that the people should follow the guidelines set by their local health authorities and professionals to say regarding holding events or traveling.
In an article in Science Times, it was mentioned that the virus is less deadly than influenza. If that's the case, containment of the virus might be possible and its transmission hopefully can be stopped.
