Today, the World Health Organisation (WHO) officially recognised the COVID-19 disease as a global pandemic, leading to widespread panic about the spread of the virus.
Now, one expert has warned that the killer bug is likely to be with use for a ‘considerable length of time.’
Professor Mark Woodhouse , Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at the University of Edinburgh , said: “The World Health Organisation has now confirmed that COVID-19 is a pandemic.
“The statement also says that this does not change their advice on how to respond and that ‘urgent and aggressive’ action is required by countries with significant outbreaks. An important word missing from that statement is ‘sustainable’.
“It is now clear that COVID-19 is going to be with us for a considerable length of time and the actions that we take must be actions that we can live with for a prolonged period.”
A pandemic is classed as a disease that is spreading in multiple countries around the world at the same time.
Tedros Adhanom, Director General at WHO, said: “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.
“Describing the situation as a pandemic does not change WHO’s assessment of the threat posed by this virus. It doesn’t change what WHO is doing, and it doesn’t change what countries should do.”
However, Mr Adhanom stressed that if countries act accordingly, the course of the pandemic can be changed.
He added: “We cannot say this loudly enough, or clearly enough, or often enough: all countries can still change the course of this pandemic.
“If countries detect, test, treat, isolate, trace, and mobilize their people in the response, those with a handful of cases can prevent those cases becoming clusters, and those clusters becoming community transmission.
“Even those countries with community transmission or large clusters can turn the tide on this virus.”
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