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Written by: Deng Jiaqi
2020-03-12 21:47
Last updated: 2020-03-12 21:47A new coronavirus has swept the world. The World Health Organization announced on Wednesday (11) that the epidemic was characterized as a "global pandemic." Four months have passed since the outbreak of the epidemic. Looking at the information on the WHO epidemic map, the number of confirmed cases worldwide has exceeded 110,000, with more than 4,000 deaths and 112 affected countries and regions. Click on the video to see what a "global pandemic" is and its impact on Hong Kong after the epidemic has been characterized.
The outbreak of the new coronavirus has spread throughout the country for nearly four months. The outbreak spread from Hubei Province, China, to all parts of Asia. The cruise ship “Diamond Princess” in Yokohama, Japan, Daegu, South Korea and Gyeongsangbuk-do were infected by many people. By the end of February, the virus had spread all over the world, with widespread spread in Iran, Italy, and across Europe, and even deaths continued.
The Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tan Desai, said on February 24 that the use of the "Pandemic" label is not intended to cause fear, while considering that it will not help to control the spread of the epidemic. In less than a month, he announced on March 11 that the epidemic was classified as a "pandemic".
What is a "global pandemic"?
The WHO official website writes that a "pandemic" refers to a new type of disease that is widespread throughout the world and is easily transmitted from person to person, while "flu pandemic" refers to a new type of influenza virus that spreads globally, and Most people are not immune to this.
Before this time, there were 4 "pandemics" after the 20th century, respectively, the "Spanish flu" that killed 50 million people from 1918 to 1919, the "Asian flu" from 1957 to 1958, and the "1968" "Hong Kong Flu" and the last H1N1 swine flu that occurred in 2009.
The threshold for a "global pandemic"?
Four months after the outbreak of the new coronavirus, the WHO finally defined it as a "global pandemic" in March. Has the previous epidemic not met the threshold? In fact, there is no precise numerical threshold between the WHO and the international community, which defines how many confirmed cases or how many countries become infected areas, etc., so that the epidemic constitutes a "global pandemic."
Take "SARS" in 2003 as an example. In that year, there were more than 8,000 confirmed cases and more than 700 deaths in 26 countries around the world. However, the WHO only defines them as "epidemic", meaning in one Within range, there are unusual numbers of people infected with the same disease at the same time.
The WHO ’s new coronary pneumonia epidemic map shows that the number of confirmed cases worldwide has exceeded 110,000, with more than 4,000 deaths, and the number of affected countries has increased to 112. The WHO claims that this is the first pandemic caused by a coronavirus.
▼ Hong Kong's abnormal daily life under the epidemic ▼
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Countermeasures for "global pandemic"?
Defined as a "global pandemic", it may stimulate more countries to launch higher-level response plans. The United States announced on the same day (March 11) that European travelers were prohibited from entering the United States for 30 days in response to the epidemic. Italy has also issued an urgent announcement to suspend all commercial activities, except for shops selling food and pharmacies, and all other shops must be closed. Looking back at Hong Kong, the Director of the Centre for Health Protection Huang Jiaqing said that it was not unexpected for the WHO to declare a "global pandemic" and that the preventive measures taken by Hong Kong would not have a major impact or change.
In the 1990s, Hong Kong also experienced two "global pandemic" epidemics, namely the "Asian Flu" in 1957 and the "Hong Kong Flu" in 1968. The influenza A virus H2N2 that caused "Asian flu" was a combination of human and avian influenza viruses. It first broke out in China in 1957, and was reordered into a new type of H3N2 virus ten years later. influenza". "Hong Kong Flu" infected about 500,000 Hong Kong residents, accounting for 15% of the population, but its mortality rate was not high.
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From 1957 Asian flu to 2020 coronavirus review Hong Kong goes through four global pandemics
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