The term ‘pandemic’ explained

Doctor Elza Coetzee, a chemical pathologist in the Southern Cape, has explained why Covid-19 is called a pandemic.

The answer is fairly simple, according to Coetzee. "It literally comes down to a matter of definitions, which clearly distinguish between an outbreak, an epidemic and a pandemic.

Surprisingly our own government has the most succinct and correct definitions: an outbreak is a sudden rise in cases of a disease in a particular place. An epidemic is a large outbreak. A pandemic means a global epidemic."

‘Time will tell. What we do have are numbers, and numbers don’t lie if we don’t pollute them with agendas.’

The Mayo Clinic's Dr Tosh says: “A pandemic is when there is an outbreak that affects most of the world." Coetzee says there is no doubt that South Africans are currently witnessing a pandemic. Covid-19 still schools us on a daily basis, be it medically, socio-economically or politically.

“History seems to be our best guide. Comparisons with any other pandemic can only really be made once we’ve come to the end of this pandemic.”

She says the much-cited Spanish flu stretched over two years, had three distinct waves of which the second was the largest, with the highest casemortality rate.

"Time will tell. What we do have are numbers, and numbers don’t lie if we don’t pollute them with agendas.

"The global laboratory confirmed death count for Covid-19 thus far has surpassed 1,3 million deaths. Seasonal influenza’s average annual global death count ranges from 300 000 to 650 000. Covid-19 has proved not to be just another flu."

Coetzee says whatever residents' stances are on masks, social distancing and hand sanitising, these inexpensive and simple measures assisted in achieving an almost influenza-free winter and kept Covid-19 in check.

"It remains the best way to keep our economy alive, albeit slightly irritating and unsightly. May emerging vaccines bring an early end to this life-altering global event."