The 2019 coronavirus outbreak (2019-nCoV) is the latest among the five major pandemics that occurred in a decade. Pharmaceutical Technology takes a look at the five international public health emergencies (level-3) the WHO declared due to the biggest viral disease outbreaks. Global health emergency declared on 31 January 2020 and global pandemic declared on 11 March The 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak from the city of Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, in December 2019 spread to 121 more countries in less than two months.
The WHO officially renamed the disease as Covid-19 on 11 February and the virus that causes the disease as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).