Coronavirus is now a pandemic: What does it mean and what happens next?

As the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus around the world continue to rise, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced it was characterising the COVID-19 outbreak as a pandemic on Wednesday evening.

“WHO has been assessing this outbreak around the clock and we are deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity, and by the alarming levels of inaction,” WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom said. “We have therefore made the assessment that COVID-19 can be characterised as a pandemic.

“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.”

The WHO went on to stress that the upgrade in status does not change its response to the virus, and that it should not impact the way that countries act to protect their citizens.

Adhanom added: “We have never before seen a pandemic sparked by a coronavirus. This is the first pandemic caused by a coronavirus. And we have never before seen a pandemic that can be controlled, at the same time.”

What is a pandemic?

The word ‘pandemic’ is used by disease and health experts to describe a situation when an epidemic – which is the widespread occurrence of an infectious disease – spreads among people in multiple countries at the same time.

The description is usually reserved for situations where the spread is not confined to cases where people have returned home from affected countries, and the disease begins to be passed on through person to person transmission.

It has been more than a decade since the WHO last declared a pandemic, when the spread of swine flu resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people in 2009.

What happens next?

As the World Health Organization has stressed that governments should not alter the plans they have in place, it is unclear what will happen next and it is likely to be different in each country. Australia has not yet made the decision to ban public gatherings, with this weekend’s Grand Prix set to go ahead in Melbourne, while schools and universities remain open, and public transport remains active.

However on Thursday morning, Prime Minister Scott Morrison briefly discussed what could happen during an interview with the Today show. He dispelled the idea of closing the country’s borders altogether, stating that it would likely do little to prevent spread as Australian citizens and permanent residents are still returning from other destinations.

He added: “What matters is how you manage it within the community. And that’s why we scaled up the investment in our health system with over 100 pop up clinics and money for additional testing.

“And on the testing, just a point the Medical Officer made yesterday. You’ve got to be presenting symptoms. You would have had to have had contact with someone quite directly that would have either had the virus or been in a country where it had been quite exposed to it. Just rushing off and having a test when you’re not presenting any symptoms, on the maybe, that test is not going to do you any good. It’s not going to tell you anything. So listen to the medical advice, not to Twitter.”

How has the government responded so far?

Later today Prime Minister Scott Morrison is expected to announce the Coalition’s economic stimulus package, which comes after the PM and Health Minister Greg Hunt outlined the government’s $2.4 billion health plan for dealing with – and working to contain – the spread of COVID-19 on Wednesday.

The PM said that the demand-driven health package will include funding for pop-up fever clinics, bulk-billed video consultations and a mobile app to help prepare the country for the possibility of a pandemic, as the country works to remain in “containment mode”.

Morrison also announced that the travel ban would be extended to include Italy, meaning that anyone who has spent time there is not allowed to enter Australia for a period of 14 days after leaving the country. The new restrictions are in addition to the existing ban on travellers from mainland China, Iran and South Korea.

Health Minister Greg Hunt also outlined further details of the health plan and revealed that the government is also establishing a telehealth system that will provide Australians, particularly those under isolation, with updates on the coronavirus. It will also help vulnerable Australians, such as elderly residents, pregnant women or those who are immunocompromised, to keep abreast of updates, without having to go into hopsital or medical environments where they may be at risk of contamination.