After pressure from several countries, including Brazil, the WHO declared a coronavirus pandemic state.
THE World Health Organization (WHO) declared on Wednesday (11/03) that there is a pandemic caused by the new COVID-19 coronavirus. The announcement was made by the Director-General of WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. The estimate is that the number of countries and people affected will increase in the coming months.
“Pandemic is not a word to be used lightly or carelessly. It is a word that, if misused, can cause irrational fear or unjustified acceptance that the fight is over, leading to unnecessary suffering and death. ”
said Ghebreyesus.
Ghebreyesus also says that the first time there is a pandemic caused by a coronavirus. The declaration came after several countries, including Brazil, pressured the entity to declare the state of pandemic.
WHO says that there are already 118,000 people diagnosed with COVID-19 coronavirus in 114 countries. There have been 4,291 deaths since then. On the subject, the entity's executive director of emergencies, Michael Rayan, explains that the statement does not mean that new practices will be adopted to combat the COVID-19 coronavirus.
“The description of the situation as a pandemic does not alter the WHO's assessment of the threat posed by this virus. This does not change what WHO is doing, nor what countries should do (…) The declaration of a pandemic is not like an international emergency – a characterization or description of a situation, not a change in the situation. ”
said Ryan
What pandemic?
A pandemic is an epidemic of infectious disease that spreads among the population located in a large geographic region, such as a continent, or even Planet Earth (Photo: Reproduction)In simple terms, a pandemic when a disease spreads over a large number of regions on the planet, being present in a large geographical area, contaminating thousands, or even millions, of people.
different than epidemic, because in this case it refers to a large increase in cases of a certain disease, but restricted to a smaller area, such as municipalities, states, or even an entire country.
With the advancement of technology and the facilitation of international travel, pandemics started to occur more frequently than in the past.
In addition, there are many cases where the infected person has no symptoms of the disease, such as COVID-19 coronavirus, and when contacting healthy people, contagion occurs.
It is worth mentioning that Ghebreyesus also says that all countries need to prepare responses in key areas: detect, protect, treat, reduce transmission, innovate and learn.
COVID-19 coronavirus chronology
The first cases referring to the COVID-19 coronavirus started in Wuhan, China, in December 2019 (Photo: Reproduction)The first cases arose in Wuhan, capital of the Chinese province of Hubei, on December 2, 2019. At the end of the same month, WHO receives the first alert from the Chinese authorities, saying that the city cited had many cases of pneumonia unknown origin.
On 7 January 2020, WHO was able to identify the new COVID-19 c coronaviruswith the first sequencing analyzes. Shortly thereafter, the first death was confirmed: a 61-year-old man had respiratory failure caused by severe pneumonia due to COVID-19 coronavirus.
On January 13, WHO reports the existence of the first infected person outside China, a woman from Thailand who had traveled to Wuhan. In this case, she had mild pneumonia. On January 20, scientist Zhong Nanshan confirmed that the disease is transmitted among humans. The following day, the first case was detected in the United States.
Since then, trains and airplanes have been suspended, as well as the blockade of highways in the city of Wuhan. Beijing announced the closure of the Forbidden City and canceled the New Year celebration in the capital. WHO declares that the COVID-19 coronavirus it is a global emergency situation.
On February 1, about 12 thousand cases were confirmed in China alone, and the number of deaths reached 259. There was also news of the death of a man in the Philippines due to the coronavirus COVID-19, the first being out of his country of origin. The doctor himself who alerted to the outbreak, Li Wenliang, also died after contracting the virus at the hospital where he worked in Wuhan.
On February 9, the death toll reaches 813 and two days later, WHO appoints the coronavirus how COVID-19. On the 13th, Japan confirmed the first death, the third being outside China.
Here in Brazil, the Ministry of Health announced on March 10 that there are 34 confirmed cases. Of these, 19 are from So Paulo, 8 from Rio de Janeiro, 2 from Bahia and the others from Braslia, Minas Gerais, Esprito Santo, Rio Grande do Sul and Alagoas.
Sources: G1, The Antagonist and StatNews
