Ahealth emergency plagues the world. The signal emitted from Geneva last Wednesday is decidedly distressing for the international community. The declaration of a global coronavirus pandemic ~ long overdue ~ should put at rest the semantic quibbling over the difference between an epidemic and a pandemic.

The academic connotation would seem irrelevant to the sick and the dying across the world. In the event, those afflicted have been driven quicker to death than to state efforts towards care and cure. Not even China could stop people dying despite the extraordinary measures it took. The World Health Organization has couched its declaration with the stern caveat against what it calls “alarming levels of inaction” in the fight against the spread of the affliction, potentially mortal.

The announcement by the Director-General of WHO, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, comes in parallel to India suspending visas till 15 April and Donald Trump announcing a travel ban from Europe to the United States in a rather belated effort to stem the virus. Italy and Iran, after all, have been the most acutely affected outside of China, from where the virus germinated.

It is cause for alarm too that the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, has expressed fears that the illness could infect 70 per cent of the country’s population. Over the past fortnight, the number of cases outside China has increased 13- fold, and the number of affected countries has tripled, according to WHO’s chief. Till Thursday afternoon, the figures were staggering ~ 118,000 cases in 114 countries and 4,291 deaths.

Dr Ghebreyesus’ statement has been explicit enough to spur urgent and aggressive action, and thus dispel the general perception of “alarming levels of inaction”. Which does reaffirm the endemic failure of the medical fraternity. Thousands more are fighting for their lives in hospital. “In the days and weeks ahead, we expect to see the many cases, the many deaths and the number of affected countries climb even higher,” is at the core of WHO’s misgivings.

“We are deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity”. The word pandemic should not be used lightly or carelessly, he said, nor should it be misused. The international response doesn’t quite match the enormity of the tragedy. The experience in China and South Korea, where the numbers of cases are falling, shows that it is possible to turn things around.

But WHO’s evaluation would suggest that many countries are not doing what is necessary. It devolves on all countries to detect, test, treat, isolate, track contacts and mobilise their people in response to the pandemic. The suffering has been collective; so too must be the response. Infectious diseases do not respect borders. The world needs sustained and coordinated action.