"WHO has been assessing this outbreak around the clock and we are deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity, and by the alarming levels of inaction," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. "We have therefore made the assessment that COVID-19 can be characterized as a pandemic."
Tedros said that pandemic is not a word to use lightly or carelessly. "It is a word that, if misused, can cause unreasonable fear, or unjustified acceptance that the fight is over, leading to unnecessary suffering and death," he said. 

Over the last two weeks the number of cases of COVID-19 outside China has increased 13-fold and the number of affected countries has tripled, Tedros said at a news conference in Geneva. The viral disease has swept into at least 114 countries and killed more than 4,000 people.
"In the days and weeks ahead, we expect to see the number of cases, the number of deaths, and the number of affected countries climb even higher," Tedros said.
"We have never before seen a pandemic sparked by a coronavirus. And we have never before seen a pandemic that can be controlled at the same time," he said. "We have called every day for countries to take urgent and aggressive action. We have rung the alarm bell loud and clear." 

The WHO chief said that describing the situation as a pandemic does not change the organization's assessment of the threat posed by the virus, nor does it change what the WHO is doing or what actions countries should take.
Of the 118,000 cases reported globally in 114 countries, more than 90 percent are in four countries: China, Italy, South Korea and Iran. WHO figures suggest that in two of those countries, China and South Korea, the epidemic is significantly declining.
"If countries detect, test, treat, isolate, trace, and mobilize their people in their response," he said, "those with a handful of cases can prevent those cases from becoming clusters and those clusters from becoming community transmissions."
As belows are some suggestions Fedar offers,
1. Wash hands frequently, use soap, hand sanitizer, etc., and wash hands with flowing water;
2. Minimize going out and do not go to crowd gathering places;
If you have to go out or take public transportation, please wear masks correctly, which should be N95 mouth masks and medical surgical masks that meet the standards;
Avoid eating and contacting wild animals, poultry, eggs, meat cooked After eating;
5, pay attention to more water, indoor ventilation, keep dry.