Covid-19: 5 years since WHO declared pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, was declared a national emergency in the United States by President Trump on 3/13/2020. The novel virus was first identified in an outbreak in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019 before spreading elsewhere. At the start of the pandemic, there was a run on toilet paper, paper towels, and cleaning products like Lysol and hand sanitizer.

The World Health Organization declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) on January 30, 2020, and assessed the outbreak as a pandemic on March 11, 2020.

The WHO ended the PHEIC on May 5, 2023. Since the start of the outbreak, the illness has caused over 7 million deaths worldwide, making it one of the deadliest epidemics and pandemics in history.