WHO Secretary-General: "COVID-19 Exhibits Pandemic Characteristics"... Late Acknowledgment

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] The World Health Organization (WHO) has officially declared the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) a pandemic. This is the third time in history that the WHO has declared a pandemic. However, the declaration came only after the virus had spread to nearly 120,000 people across 114 countries worldwide, leading to criticism of a delayed response.

On the 11th (local time), WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus officially announced at a press briefing held at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, that "COVID-19 can be characterized as a pandemic." This marks the third time the WHO has officially declared a pandemic, following the 1968 Hong Kong flu and the 2009 H1N1 influenza outbreaks.

A pandemic in public health refers to the "global spread" of a virus to which the majority of people do not have immunity. It officially acknowledges that the stage has passed where blocking the spread by quarantining certain severely affected regions is effective. Accordingly, health response policies in each country will be strengthened from localized "lockdown" measures to broad "mitigation" policies involving widespread control nationwide.

The WHO had hesitated to declare a pandemic, fearing it could cause significant confusion. Since COVID-19 had already spread worldwide, the WHO faced criticism for a delayed response after declaring the pandemic. As of this announcement, the WHO had recorded confirmed cases in 114 countries, totaling 118,000 people.

Director-General Ghebreyesus seemed aware of such criticism, explaining, "Pandemic is a word that cannot be used lightly or carelessly," adding, "If misused, it can cause irrational fear or give the false impression that the fight against COVID-19 is over, which could lead to unnecessary suffering and death."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.