WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE...

between epidemic and pandemic?

EPIDEMIC and pandemic are both terms used to describe when an outbreak of illness has reached a wider geographical area than the small region it first emerged in. When Covid-19 spread outside Wuhan and across China, scientists deemed the situation an epidemic. But as it spread internationally, it was considered a pandemic.

Scientists only confirm the classification of pandemic once local transmission occurs in a secondary region. So, for example, Covid-19 reached pandemic proportions when infected individuals returned to their native country from China and began infecting others nearby.