CNN announced Monday the news organization will start referring to the coronavirus outbreak as a pandemic even though several global health organizations have not yet labeled the crisis as such.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta, the network’s chief medical correspondent, revealed the network’s reasoning in an online post. Gupta said the change in vernacular is “not a decision we take lightly,” and notes that “it should not cause panic.”
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Neither the World Health Organization nor the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have labeled the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic.
There are no specific criteria or definition for a pandemic, but there are three factors that are generally considered necessary for an outbreak to reach the level of a pandemic. They are: a virus that can cause illness or result in death, sustained person-to-person transmission, and global spread.
The CDC defines a pandemic as “an epidemic that has spread over several countries or continents, usually affecting a large number of people.”
Gupta cited several public health leaders who all “agreed that we are now in a pandemic.”
The coronavirus has infected more than 111,000 globally and has been found on every continent but Antarctica. The outbreak has led to more than 3,800 deaths with 22 in the United States.
