WHO Declares COVID-19 a Pandemic

By Amy Orciari Herman

Edited by Susan Sadoughi, MD, and Richard Saitz, MD, MPH, FACP, DFASAM

The World Health Organization has declared the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak a global pandemic.

At a news briefing on Wednesday, WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus noted that over the past 2 weeks, the number of cases outside China increased 13-fold and the number of countries with cases increased threefold. Further increases are expected. He said that the WHO is "deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity and by the alarming levels of inaction," and he called on countries to take action now to contain the virus. "We should double down," he said. "We should be more aggressive."

Among the WHO's current recommendations, people with mild respiratory symptoms should be encouraged to isolate themselves, and social distancing is emphasized. The group's guidance, linked below, notes that these recommendations apply even to countries with no reported cases.

In the U.S., Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, echoed the WHO's sentiment, warning that the COVID-19 outbreak "is going to get worse," the New York Times reports. He added, "We would recommend that there not be large crowds. If that means not having any people in the audience as the N.B.A. plays, so be it."

U.S. COVID-19 cases on Wednesday surpassed 1000, with 29 deaths.

Separately, in JAMA, researchers report that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, was most often detected in respiratory samples from patients in China. However, live virus was also found in feces. They conclude: "Transmission of the virus by respiratory and extrarespiratory routes may help explain the rapid spread of disease."

Here are two more newly published resources you may be interested in:

• In the New England Journal of Medicine, two physicians discuss how health systems can leverage their current telemedicine programs to more safely care for patients.

• A JAMA paper reviews care for critically ill patients with COVID-19, including precautions healthcare workers should take.