Editing Pandemic (section)

==== COVID-19 ====
{{Main|COVID-19|COVID-19 pandemic}}
[[File:Total-confirmed-cases-of-covid-19-per-million-people.png|thumb|Total confirmed cases of COVID-19 per million people<ref>{{cite web |title=Total confirmed cases of COVID-19 per million people |url=https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/total-confirmed-cases-of-covid-19-per-million-people |website=Our World in Data |access-date=10 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200319163452/https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/total-confirmed-cases-of-covid-19-per-million-people |archive-date=19 March 2020 |url-status=live }}</ref>]]
[[SARS-CoV-2]], a new strain of [[coronavirus]], was first detected in the city of [[Wuhan|Wuhan, Hubei Province]], China, in December 2019.<ref>{{cite web |date=31 December 2019 |title=WHO Statement Regarding Cluster of Pneumonia Cases in Wuhan, China |url=https://www.who.int/china/news/detail/09-01-2020-who-statement-regarding-cluster-of-pneumonia-cases-in-wuhan-china |access-date=12 March 2020 |publisher=WHO}}</ref> The outbreak was characterized as a [[Public health emergency of international concern|Public Health Emergency of International Concern]] (PHEIC) between January 2020 and May 2023 by WHO.<ref>{{cite web |date=11 March 2020 |title=WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the media briefing on COVID-19—11 March 2020 |url=https://www.who.int/dg/speeches/detail/who-director-general-s-opening-remarks-at-the-media-briefing-on-covid-19---11-march-2020 |access-date=12 March 2020 |publisher=WHO}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=WHO – Statement on the fifteenth meeting of the IHR (2005) Emergency Committee on the COVID-19 pandemic |url=https://www.who.int/news/item/05-05-2023-statement-on-the-fifteenth-meeting-of-the-international-health-regulations-(2005)-emergency-committee-regarding-the-coronavirus-disease-(covid-19)-pandemic |access-date=10 May 2023 |publisher=World Health Organization}}</ref> The number of people infected with COVID-19 has reached more than 767 million worldwide, with a death toll of 6.9 million.{{Efn|Statistics as of August 2023}}<ref>{{cite web |date=19 June 2023 |title=WHO Coronavirus (COVID-19) Dashboard |url=https://covid19.who.int/ |access-date=19 June 2023 |website=World Health Organization}}</ref> It is considered likely that the virus will eventually become endemic and, like the common cold, cause less severe disease for most people.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Harrison CM, Doster JM, Landwehr EH, Kumar NP, White EJ, Beachboard DC, Stobart CC | title = Evaluating the Virology and Evolution of Seasonal Human Coronaviruses Associated with the Common Cold in the COVID-19 Era | journal = Microorganisms | volume = 11 | issue = 2 | pages = 445 | date = February 2023 | pmid = 36838410 | pmc = 9961755 | doi = 10.3390/microorganisms11020445 | quote = After evaluating the biology, pathogenesis, and emergence of the human coronaviruses that cause the common cold, we can anticipate that with increased vaccine immunity to SARS-CoV-2, it will become a seasonal, endemic coronavirus that causes less severe disease in most individuals. Much like the common cold CoVs, the potential for severe disease will likely be present in those who lack a protective immune response or are immunocompromised. | doi-access = free }}</ref>