(NPR) On Jan. 30, 2020, the World Health Organization sounded the alarm about an unfamiliar and deadly new virus, declaring it a global health emergency. “Over the past few weeks, we have witnessed the emergence of a previously unknown pathogen, which has escalated into an unprecedented outbreak,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters. Tedros was talking about what would later be named SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes the disease now known as COVID-19, which is all too familiar today. As of Jan. 25, 2023, almost 700 million people have had confirmed infections with the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, and nearly 7 million people have died.
COVID flashback: On Jan. 30, 2020, WHO declared a global health emergency
