"We have called every day for countries to take urgent and aggressive action. We have rung the alarm bell loud and clear," said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO chief as he declared the pandemic on Wednesday 11 March 2020.
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"All countries can still change the course of this pandemic. If countries detect, test, treat, isolate, trace and mobilise their people in the response," he said.
The WHO defines a pandemic as the worldwide spread of a new disease, across several countries or continents, affecting a large number of people.
A viral outbreak could be categorised as a pandemic if it is markedly different from recently circulating strains, and if humans have little or no immunity to it, according to the UK’s Health and Safety Executive.
When was the last pandemic?
Before we get to what the 'last' pandemic was, you may be surprised to know that there is actually a pandemic other than coronavirus ongoing right now.
AIDS is currently classed as a pandemic by the WHO, with infection rates as high as 25% in southern and eastern Africa.
In 2006, the HIV prevalence rate among pregnant women in South Africa was 29%.
Effective education about safer sexual practices and blood-borne infection precautions training have helped to slow down infection rates, but the disease's status remains.
Before coronavirus, the last pandemic to grip the world was that of the 2009 flu pandemic, more commonly known as "swine flu".
It is estimated that 11 – 21% of the global population contracted swine flu, though the fatality rate was relatively low, at about 0.01 - 0.08 per cent.
Between 150,000 and 575,000 people were thought to have died.
Previous pandemics in history
Pandemics are nothing new, and even before the mass transit of the world's population through air travel, poor hygiene technologies in even developed countries led to mass outbreaks of disease.
Cholera is one such disease, which has seen multiple pandemics throughout history. The first began in 1817 on the Indian subcontinent, spreading across India by 1820, and claiming the lives of 10,000 British troops stationed there.
Cholera's outbreak have mainly kept to the Indian subcontinent (between 1817 and 1860 it is estimated that 15 million persons died there), although there have been pandemics in both Europe and North America.
What has been the biggest pandemic in history?
Spanish flu is perhaps the deadliest pandemic in relatively recent history. From 1918 to 1920 it infected 500 million people around the world, including people on remote Pacific islands and in the Arctic.
50 to 100 million people are thought to have died from the strain - that's more people than were killed in World War I - which had an unusually high mortality rate for young adults.
Of course, the most famous pandemic is that of the Black Plague, which between 1331 to 1353 killed an estimated at 75 million people.
Coronavirus: The Facts
COVID-19 is a respiratory illness that can affect lungs and airways. It is caused by a virus called coronavirus and is spread primarily through droplets generated when an infected person coughs or sneezes, or through droplets of saliva or discharge from the nose.
What are the symptoms?
The NHS states that you should not leave the home if you have either:
a high temperature – this means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back (you do not need to measure your temperature) a new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual)
What should I do if I feel unwell?
Don’t go to your GP but instead look online at the coronavirus service that can tell you if you need medical help and what to do next. Only call 111 if you cannot get help online.
What precautions can be taken?
Washing your hands with soap and water thoroughly. The NHS also advises to cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve (not your hands) when you cough or sneeze; put used tissues in the bin immediately and try to avoid close contact with people who are unwell. Also avoiding touching eyes, nose and mouth unless your hands are clean
When can I go outside?
The Government has put the UK into lockdown and instructed everyone to stay at home. You should only leave your home for very limited purposes:
shopping for basic necessities, for example food and medicine, which must be as infrequent as possible one form of exercise a day, for example a run, walk, or cycle – alone or with members of your household any medical need, including to donate blood, avoid or escape risk of injury or harm, or to provide care or to help a vulnerable person travelling for work purposes, but only where you cannot work from home
However, these reasons are exceptions – even when doing these activities, you should be minimising time spent outside of the home and ensuring you are 2 metres apart from anyone outside of your household.
