World Health Organization declares coronavirus a pandemic

The World Health Organization has officially declared the novel coronavirus outbreak to be a pandemic.

The novel coronavirus outbreak is the first pandemic caused by a coronavirus, WHO Director- General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday.

“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,” he added.

The specific criteria for a pandemic are not universally defined, but there are three general criteria: a virus that can cause illness or death; sustained person-to-person transmission of that virus; and evidence of spread throughout the world.

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1237777021742338049

The novel coronavirus has infected more than 115,800 people — including at least 1,000 in the US — and killed over 4,200 worldwide, according to CNN’s tally.

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday announced that 101 cases had been reported in Africa with 59 being confirmed in Egypt, which remains worst-hit by the virus on the continent.

By Tuesday, March 10 Coronavirus cases in Africa stood as follows: Egypt (59) Algeria (20), South Africa (7), Senegal (4), Tunisia (2), Cameroon (2), Nigeria (2), Morocco (2) and Togo (1), according to WHO.