What Does the WHO-Declared 'Pandemic' for COVID-19 Mean?...Highest Level of Infectious Disease Risk

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[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] A pandemic refers to the phenomenon where a disease that has not previously appeared spreads globally and becomes widespread worldwide. On the 11th (local time), the World Health Organization (WHO) defined the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) as a pandemic, marking the first time in 11 years since the 2009 H1N1 flu (swine flu). At that time, WHO declared a pandemic after hundreds of thousands of people worldwide died from the disease.

The term pandemic is derived from the Greek word 'pandemos.' 'Demos' means population, and 'pan' means all. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there were at least four influenza pandemics in the 19th century and three pandemics in the 20th century. The most severe case in history was the 1918 Spanish flu. At that time, 500 million people, one-third of the world's population, were infected, and the death toll reached 50 million. COVID-19 started in China and spread worldwide to countries including Italy, Iran, South Korea, and the United States, with confirmed cases now exceeding 110,000.

The United Nations (UN) evaluates a pandemic as a situation where a new virus causes "sustained community-level outbreaks" in at least two or more regions. Time magazine cited experts stating that COVID-19 has already met these conditions, having first emerged in China and spread to four regions, and has spread to all continents except Antarctica.

This corresponds to the highest risk level, level 6, among the six stages of infectious disease risk classified by WHO. WHO's infectious disease risk levels are divided into ▲Level 1 animal-to-animal transmission ▲Level 2 animal-to-human transmission ▲Level 3 limited human-to-human transmission ▲Level 4 epidemic initiation ▲Level 5 epidemic in two or more countries ▲Level 6 global pandemic.

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