The news we all feared just arrived. Coronavirus outbreak is a pandemic. “We have evaluated that COVID-19 can be characterized as a pandemic situation” – announced the WHO. The decision came on the day when Wuhan celebrates the last patient released while in Italy and in the rest of the world cases continue to increase. 118 thousand people have contracted Covid-19, scattered in 114 different countries. And it arose from the deep concern arising “both from the alarming levels of diffusion and severity, and from the alarming levels of inaction”. These are the words of Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
What is a pandemic and what changes
The term pandemic, from the Greek “pandemos“, ‘the whole population’, indicates an epidemic disease whose expansion is rapid, affects multiple geographical areas and involves many people. Which assumes that humans are not immunized against the virus that causes it. Although there have been many pandemics in human history, this “is the first caused by a coronavirus” – added the WHO director general. This, however, does not change what the World Health Organization is doing, but raises the warning level and requires greater attention from all countries. And, according to the general manager, the emergency does not look likely to decrease within a short time. Indeed, “We expect to see the number of cases, the number of deaths, and the number of affected countries climb even higher,”
With these words we neither want to alarm the population further, nor create new fears. The warning for the whole world is to adopt, as Italy has recently done, more restrictive measures. Do nott travel. Do not leave the house, unless strictly necessary. Avoid gatherings and neverending queues at supermarkets. Avoid all types of contact with people who have the flu and, even more, with people who have been in contact with a patient who have contracted Coronavirus. Keep hygiene levels high. In short, nothing new. But respect the current regulations seriously, respecting yourself and others. This is the only way we have to mitigate the impact of SARS-CoV-2 and prevent its progress. This is the only way we have to hope that the number of infections will decrease and everything will return to a normal situation.
