What will change if WHO recognizes a new coronavirus infection as a pandemic?



At the time of writing, the

new coronavirus infection (COVID-19), which infected 118,000 people in 114 countries and killed 4,291 people, was recognized as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) Did.

WHO recognizes new coronavirus infection as a pandemic, the first time in 11 years since the new influenza in 2009-GIGAZINE



A pandemic is a term that refers to the spread of some disease, especially an infectious disease, worldwide. In the first place, epidemics of infectious diseases can be classified into three stages: “endemic (local epidemic)”, “epidemic (epidemic)”, and “pandemic (global epidemic)”. “Endemic” refers to the stage in which infection spreads in a relatively small number of cases in a specific region, and this epidemic spreads rapidly beyond the expected range in some countries and regions. Is called an “epidemic,” and the spread of this epidemic around the world is called a “pandemic.”

`` The definition of a pandemic is completely geographical, '' `` irrespective of severity or number of people infected, '' said Associate Professor Lauren Sauer, director of critical affairs preparedness and response at the Johns Hopkins College of Emergency Medicine. . it is considered and whether is that whether the 'virus has spread around the world talking and, that the new coronavirus infection Based on this definition is in the stage of a pandemic is one if you look at the following graph You can tell by departure.



The graph is a graph created based on data on the new coronavirus infection released by the John Hopkins University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering, and the number of cases (vertical axis) is only shown in time series (horizontal axis) Instead, the countries where the cases were reported are color coded. According to WHO, 118,000 people in 114 countries are infected with the new coronavirus, but 57 countries have succeeded in suppressing the number of cases to 10 or less, so the graph shows comparison This is only in countries where a large number of cases are reported.

Until mid-February 2020, the new type of coronavirus infection was reported to have been reported almost exclusively in China, indicating that at this point it was only an “epidemic” or “ outbreak ”. However, cases began to be reported in various countries around the world in March 2020, and the graph became colorful at a stretch, and the number of cases continued to increase steadily.

In addition, I think many people are worried about the word pandemic, but Japan is ranked 5th in the 'Last country ranking when a pandemic occurs'.

`` A favorable country ranking when a pandemic occurs '' is announced, Japan is ranked 5th-GIGAZINE



WHO declared on February 25, 2020, that it was 'not a pandemic, ' but only 16 days later the new coronavirus infection was identified as a pandemic. The reason why WHO took so long to qualify a new coronavirus infection as a pandemic is related to the 2009 pandemic influenza pandemic . 2009H1N1 , a new influenza in 2009, was recognized as a pandemic due to extremely high infection mortality in Mexico, but it was gathered a lot of criticism because it was actually a threat level that was not much different from seasonal influenza Was.

'In a recent press conference, Tedross said,' Pandemics are not words that are used lightly and inadvertently. Misuse can cause unreasonable fear and unjust acceptance, leading to unnecessary distress and death. There is, 'he said, saying the difficulty of qualifying an infectious disease as a pandemic.



Nor does the WHO call an infectious disease a pandemic by itself have any legal significance. Meanwhile, as of January 30, 2020, WHO has declared a `` Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) '' for pandemic coronavirus infection, and has been a member of the United Nations. It is advisable to treat infectious diseases legally.

WHO finally announces an emergency declaration with the spread of the new coronavirus, and at the same time seeks a calm response-gigazine



As mentioned above, the term 'pandemic' is just a word. However, National Geographic said that WHO used the word pandemic, saying, `` If the authorities recognize that it can no longer stop the spread of the virus, it must move to measures to prevent expansion such as closing schools and stopping large-scale gatherings. not that it is made clear 'not pointed out has been, we introduce the words of experts that early stage of the pandemic declaration was important.

The Spanish cold , a pandemic that pandemic around the world in 1918, has learned many lessons about public health. The following article summarizes the lessons and shows you what has worked and what hasn't worked in your response to the new coronavirus infection.

4 lessons of pandemic learned from Spanish cold-gigazine



in Note, Posted by logu_ii