According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the coronavirus is now at the point that it almost qualifies for pandemic status. Top CDC official, Dr. Anne Schuchat, said that the outbreak already meets two criteria for a pandemic,
Schuchat is the principal deputy director of the CDC and made the remarks in prepared statements. “It is a new virus, and it is capable of person-to-person spread,” she said. “If sustained person-to-person spread in the community takes hold outside China, this will increase the likelihood that the WHO will deem it a global pandemic.”
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said health officials would not “hesitate” to declare the outbreak a pandemic if “that’s what the evidence suggests.” On Friday, he said the WHO hadn’t declared a pandemic in part because most cases of COVID-19 were still traced to known contacts or clusters of cases, and there wasn’t any “evidence as yet that the virus is spreading freely in communities.” –CNBC
“CDC’s most expert and practiced infectious disease and public health experts are dedicated to this response 24/7 to protect the American people,” she said. “The agency’s approach to COVID-19 is built upon decades of experience with prior infectious disease emergencies including responses to SARS, MERS, and Ebola, and to pandemic influenza.”
“We are asking the American public to work with us to prepare for the expectation that this could be bad,” said Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. Schools should consider dividing students into smaller groups or close and use “internet-based teleschooling,” she said.
“For adults, businesses can replace in-person meetings with video or telephone conferences and increase teleworking options,” she added
Many other health officials within the U.S. have said this viral outbreak will advance to a pandemic, an some give it no more than 30 days to make that designation.
Within 30 Days, The Coronavirus Outbreak Will Likely Become A Pandemic
Based on how quickly this virus is spreading, it could very well become a pandemic sooner.
This is raising more questions about how much government intervention and market manipulation we will all see in the coming days.