World Health Organization declares coronavirus a pandemic

Source: RT

March 11, 2020 at 12:41

Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. © Reuters/Denis Balibouse

The long-awaited pronouncement came as worldwide cases topped 120,000 while the number of deaths exceed 4,300.

The World Health Organization has said that the spread of Covid-19 around the world has reached the stage where it can be described as a pandemic.

At Wednesday’s daily briefing WHO director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, revealed that there are now more than 118,000 cases in 114 countries, and 4,291 people have lost their lives.

"WHO has been assessing this outbreak around the clock and we are deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity, and by the alarming levels of inaction"-@DrTedros #COVID19
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) March 11, 2020

“Pandemic is not a word to use lightly or carelessly. It is a word that, if misused, can cause unreasonable fear, or unjustified acceptance that the fight is over, leading to unnecessary suffering and death,” the director-general said.

“Describing the situation as a pandemic does not change WHO’s assessment of the threat posed by this coronavirus. It doesn’t change what WHO is doing, and it doesn’t change what countries should do.”