Coronavirus outbreak labelled as pandemic by World Health Organization

The World Health Organisation has officially declared the coronavirus to be a pandemic, after a large increase in the number of reported cases.

In an official press statement, WHO chief Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: "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. We have therefore made the assessment that COVID-19 can be characterized as a pandemic."

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He continued: "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."

He added: "Describing the situation as a pandemic does not change WHO’s assessment of the threat posed by this virus. It doesn’t change what WHO is doing, and it doesn’t change what countries should do."

Per CNN, the coronavirus has now infected more than 115,800 people, including at least 1,000 in the US, and killed over 4,200 globally.