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More than 10 million people have been infected with the novel
virus, with significant outbreaks in Italy, Iran and Spain, and 177

deaths in the UK.

On December 31, 2019, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) China office heard
the first reports of a previously-unknown virus behind a number of pneumonia cases
in Wuhan, a city in Eastern China with a population of over 11 million. What started
as an epidemic mainly limited to China has now become a truly global pandemic. The
disease has been detected in more than 150 countries and territories. In the UK, there
have been more than 3,983 confirmed cases and 177 deaths as of March 20. A quick
note on naming. Although popularly referred to as coronavirus, on February 11, the
WHO announced the official name of the disease: Covid-19. The virus that causes
that disease is likely to be called Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2,
or Sars-CoV-2 for short, according to a draft paper from the International Committee
on the Taxonomy of Viruses.

WHO Chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has warned that the window of

opportunity to contain Covid-19 is "narrowing". Recent outbreaks in Italy and Iran,
which so far have no clear link to China, pose a significant challenge to health
authorities trying to stop the spread of the virus. After initially delaying the decision,
on March 11, the WHO declared the Covid-19 outbreak a pandemic. The agency cited
the rapid growth of cases outside of China and the global spread of the disease as
reasons behind the designation. In January, it also declared the outbreak a "public
health emergency of international concern" – the highest category of warning for an
infectious disease outbreak.