Pandemic: Here's what's changed about the coronavirus

The Corona virus outbreak is now a global pandemic. But what exactly does that mean? And more importantly, what does it mean for you? Let's break it down. [MUSIC] The World Health Organization has officially declared that COVID19. The disease caused by the new Corona virus is a pandemic. WHO Has been assessing this outbreak around the clock and we're deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity and by the alarming levels of inaction. We have [UNKNOWN] the assessment that COVID-19 can be Characterized as a pandemic, Okay, what does the word pandemic actually mean? Well, let's start with the basics. A disease is endemic if it's common to a certain area. So according to the CDC, the amount of a particular disease that's usually present in a community That's referred to as the endemic level. When that level spikes up, you get an epidemic, an outbreak across a region, a country, or maybe even multiple countries. The Ebola outbreak in West Africa In 2013, that was an epidemic, but a pandemic. That's when an epidemic goes global. It's a whole new disease that we don't really have immunity to. It's crossing borders and continents. It's spreading quickly from person to person and infecting a large number of people. And in many cases, it has a high death toll. So how did this turn into a global pandemic? Well, here's the basic timeline. The coronavirus first appeared in China in December 2019. By February we had a name for the virus sars cov 2 and a name for the disease it caused covid 19. By March there were cases of covert 19 in every continent except Antarctica. We also started to see communities spread. That's when the disease spreads to people who haven't been to an outbreak zone. The incubation period for COVID-19 can be as long as 14 days. That means it can take up to two weeks for people to show serious symptoms, meaning they can spread the virus without even knowing it. So from one hotspot in China, we saw outbreaks popping up all across the world, South Korea, Japan, Iran, in the United States, there were more than 100 cases in Washington State alone. And Italy the price with the highest death toll outside China. The government announced a travel locked down across the entire country. That's 60 million people effectively in quarantine. But even as the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 passed a 100,000 and the death toll passed 4,000 The World Health Organization still didn't declare a pandemic. Does this virus have pandemic potential? Absolutely it has. Are we there yet? From our assessment, not yet. But with the death toll climbing and entire countries on lockdown, that situation finally changed. We have never been before seen a pandemic sparked by a coronavirus. This is the first pandemic caused by a coronavirus. Pandemic is not a word to use lightly or carelessly. It's a word that if misused Can cause unreasonable fear. So now that we are in a global pandemic, it's time to panic. Right? Well, no. But there are some important things to bear in mind. The first is, that as As person to person transmission crisis and more people get tested. You'll probably going to see a jump in the number of cases. Remember there were issues getting testing kits as in the early stages so some cases were going undiagnosed but arising confirmed cases also doesn't necessarily mean catastrophic death toll. Many people weren't diagnosed because they weren't on death stall. Remember the CDC and the World Health Organization have told us time and again that many people won't get a severe illness from the corona virus. For some, it'll just be a really bad cold. But that doesn't mean you should get all cavalier and ignore medical advice. You might not get sick but just like flu season, you might pass the virus on to someone who could get really sick. People with underlying conditions the elderly, by being smarter with public health, we can protect those people. How? Wash your hands. Hand Sanitizer is great, but thanks to our herd mentality, we've kind of gone a little hard on stockpiling and it's sold out pretty much everywhere. But washing. Hands is still one of the best things you can do 20 seconds, sing a song, talk to your coworkers even. Just make sure it's 20 seconds and you're good. Also, try to minimize how much stuff you touch. Hit the elevator button with your elbow. Go for a full Vulcan salute over a handshake and just try not to touch your face. Finally, if you're sick, stay at home. Now, don't get me wrong, it's still scary. We've seen big falls on the stock market people are being asked to self isolate and work from home. Major Events are getting canceled. But we're still pretty well placed to deal with this, especially compared to the last big pandemic we faced. 100 years ago, Spanish Flu hospitals are better. We have technology that lets us work from home. We have grocery delivery. Services, and yes, you have the Internet, so you'll still be able to get information from people like us. So while we don't know what the next few weeks and months will look like, just remember, keep calm and wash your hands.