The first ever pandemic caused by a coronavirus causes huge problems

World Health Organization (WHO) has been assessing this outbreak around the clock and officials are deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity, and by the alarming levels of inaction. They have therefore made the assessment that COVID-19 can be characterized as a pandemic.

   In the past two weeks, the number of cases of COVID-19 outside China has increased 13-fold, and the number of affected countries has tripled. There are now more than 125,000 cases in 116 countries, and 4,500 people have lost their lives. Thousands more are fighting for their lives in hospitals.

   “Pandemic is not a word to use lightly or carelessly. It is a word that, if misused, can cause unreasonable fear, or unjustified acceptance that the fight is over, leading to unnecessary suffering and death. We have never seen a pandemic sparked by a coronavirus. This is the first pandemic caused by a coronavirus.”, said WHO.

   If countries detect, test, treat, isolate, trace, and mobilize their people in the response, those with a handful of cases can prevent those cases becoming clusters, and those clusters becoming community transmission. This is quite important, as more than 90 percent of cases are in just four countries, and two of those -China and the Republic of Korea- have significantly declining epidemics.

   European Union's (EU) response to the Coronavirus outbreak is very strong. President von der Leyen said: “The crisis we face because of Coronavirus has both a very significant human dimension, and a potentially major economic impact. It is therefore essential that we act decisively and collectively, to contain the spread of the virus and help patients, and to counter the economic fallout.”

   At EU level, the Commission mobilized 140 million euro of public and private funding for promising research on vaccines, diagnosis and treatment.

   On the economic front, the Commission will set up a Corona Response Investment Initiative aiming to channel 25 billion euro worth of investment to directly support the national health care systems, small-medium enterprises (SMEs), labour markets, and other vulnerable parts of the EU economy.