The coronavirus outbreak came to light when on New Year’s Eve , 2019, China informed the planet Health Organisation of a cluster of cases of pneumonia of an unknown cause in Wuhan City in Hubei province. On January 9, 2020, WHO issued a press release saying Chinese researchers have made “preliminary determination” of the virus as a completely unique coronavirus. Since then the thousands of cases of the novel coronavirus are reported from all the 31 provinces in China. the amount of deaths thanks to the novel coronavirus now stands at 170. Cases are reported from 15 countries, including India. The novel coronavirus has acquired the power to spread among humans, with cases of human-to-human transmissions being reported first in Vietnam and Germany.

Symptoms of Corona Virus:

Coronaviruses are a family of viruses which will cause illnesses like the cold , severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS).
In 2019, a replacement coronavirus was identified because the explanation for a disease outbreak in China.
Coronavirus symptoms can include fever, cough and shortness of breath.
The illness also causes lung lesions and pneumonia. Milder cases may resemble the flu or a nasty cold, making detection difficult.
Chinese researchers have shared the entire genome sequence of the novel coronavirus, however aside from some basic details, not much is understood about the virus in terms of its source, precise duration of incubation, severity, and what makes it quite easily transmissible.
The severity of COVID-19 symptoms can range from very mild to severe.
People who are older or have existing medical conditions, like heart condition , could also be at higher risk of great illness. this is often almost like what’s seen with other respiratory illnesses, like influenza.
When was the last time an epidemic was declared?

A pandemic is defined because the worldwide spread of a replacement disease. The last pandemic reported was the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic, which killed many thousands globally. Unless it’s influenza, WHO generally avoids declaring diseases as pandemics. this alteration happened after the teachings learned from the 2009 H1N1 experience. consistent with 2017 pandemic influenza risk management guidelines, the WHO uses pandemic influenza phases — interpandemic, alert, pandemic and transition — to “reflect its risk assessment of the worldwide situation regarding each influenza virus with pandemic potential infecting humans”.

Have some countries contained the spread?

There are nine countries — Afghanistan, Pakistan, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman and UAE — within the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region that have reported novel coronavirus infections. Only five countries — Thailand, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal Taiwan — within the WHO South-East Asia region have reported SARS-CoV-2 infections. within the Americas, cases are reported from only Canada, the U.S. and Brazil. All countries that have reported even one case should primarily specialise in containing the spread of the virus, the WHO chief said. Fourteen countries have managed to contain the spread of the virus and no new case has been reported for quite every week . And nine countries, including India, Nepal and Sri Lanka , haven’t reported any additional cases within the last fortnight . This highlights that the virus are often stopped in its track if countries take appropriate and timely actions.

Since the virus has spread globally, will WHO declare COVID-19 as pandemic?

WHO Director-General made it abundantly clear that WHO won’t declare COVID-19 an epidemic at this moment.
According to WHO, “We shouldn’t be too wanting to declare an epidemic without a careful and clear-minded analysis of the facts.
Using the word pandemic carelessly has no tangible benefit, but it does have significant risk in terms of amplifying unnecessary and unjustified fear and stigma, and paralyzing systems.”
It may also signal that we will not contain the virus, which isn’t true.
We are during a fight which will be won if we do the proper things. Of course, we’ll not hesitate to use the word pandemic if it’s an accurate description of things .
WHO not downplaying the seriousness of things , or the potential for this to become an epidemic , because it’s that potential.
On the contrary, we are saying that this virus has pandemic potential and WHO is providing the tools for each country to organize accordingly.
What steps should countries fancy stop the virus from spreading?

The priority should be to detect cases early and isolate people that test positive for the virus.
Once a case is detected, the main target should be to trace the contacts and treat them if already infected.
Since the molecular test isn’t sensitive and may return false negatives, people that have returned to India or have are available contact with people that have tested positive should be made aware to hunt immediate medical aid once symptoms show up.
Though the typical time period is five-seven days, a couple of have shown up symptoms at the top of 24 days.
Efforts should even be focussed on preventing outbreaks in hospitals and spread within the community. a method to prevent the spread within the community is to avoid mass gathering in enclosed spaces.
The Ministry of Health has advised people to avoid all non-essential visit countries where community spread of the virus is reported, particularly Singapore, South Korea , Iran and Italy.
According to February 13 release, the Health Ministry has been following up passengers travelling from China, Singapore, Thailand, South Korea and Japan for a period of 28 days.
Conclusion: Looking ahead:

Ultimately, the choice to declare an epidemic rest with the WHO’s Director General. that call are going to be supported a variety of things including how briskly the disease is spreading, which groups of individuals are most in danger and therefore the effectiveness of treatments. That caution could stem, in part, from WHO’s handling of the H1N1 swine fever outbreak in 2009. Using criteria since abandoned, the WHO declared an epidemic . Later, when the disease proved less deadly than first feared, some accused the WHO of overreacting. Preventing unnecessary panic, of course, is key. The word pandemic “may also signal that we will not contain the virus, which isn’t true,” said the Director General. “We are during a fight which will be won if we do the proper things.” WHO wouldn’t hesitate to use the word pandemic if it becomes “an accurate description of the situation”.