The World Health Organisation (WHO) has now declared COVID-19 as a pandemic. A decision that WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom said they were not using “lightly or carelessly”.

“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 alarming levels of inaction,” he said at a media briefing.

A pandemic is a global outbreak of an illness that requires “sustained transmission throughout the world,” Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases told USA Today.

The Victorian State Government is already preparing for the outbreak, according to Premier Dan Andrews, who announced the release of their COVID-19 Pandemic Plan on Facebook on Tuesday night.

“Some of the actions we’ll have to take in the coming weeks and months are serious and go beyond anything we’ve experienced before in Victoria,” he wrote.

Based on expert medical advice, the Victorian Government have said they may cancel major events, close schools and suspend public transport to prevent the spread of the virus.

“Obviously the more we are able to reduce the spread of COVID-19, the better for everyone,” he wrote.

Photo: Vektor Kunst from Pixabay