The World Health Organization on Wednesday declared the novel coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic and urged all countries to do more to control the spread of the respiratory disease.

“It can be characterized as a pandemic,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO director-general. “It is a word that cannot be used lightly.”

Merriam-Webster defines “pandemic” as “an outbreak of a disease that occurs over a wide geographic area and affects an exceptionally high proportion of the population:a pandemic outbreak of a disease.”

The WHO said it was time for countries to step up and take the spread of the virus seriously.

In the past two weeks, Tedros said the number of infections around the world has increased 13-fold and that there has been a tripling of nations reporting coronavirus cases.

As of Wednesday, more than 118,000 confirmed cases have been detected globally in 114 countries, he said. The WHO says the disease has caused 4,291 deaths worldwide.

This is a developing story …

— By Cain Burdeau, CNS

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What is a Coronavirus?
According to the World Health Organization’s website, Coronaviruses (CoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). A novel coronavirus (nCoV) is a new strain that has not been previously identified in humans.

Coronaviruses are zoonotic, meaning they are transmitted between animals and people. Detailed investigations found that SARS-CoV was transmitted from civet cats to humans and MERS-CoV from dromedary camels to humans. Several known coronaviruses are circulating in animals that have not yet infected humans.

Common signs of infection include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and even death.

Standard recommendations to prevent infection spread include regular hand washing, covering mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, thoroughly cooking meat and eggs. Avoid close contact with anyone showing symptoms of respiratory illness such as coughing and sneezing.

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Always check with trusted sources such as those below for the latest accurate information about novel coronavirus COVID-19:

Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center
Los Angeles County Department of Public Health
California Department of Public Health
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
World Health Organization
City of Santa Clarita

LA County residents may also call 2-1-1.