This week received the same question from two VOA fans. Here is the first question."What is the difference between "pandemic" and "epidemic?"They appear a lot in recent VOA news. Thanks a lot!" - Tina, China.A day later, we got this email: "In recent discussion of the outbreak and spread of coronavirus, we got a little bit confused by two similar words: "pandemic" & "epidemic".Could you please explain their difference and usage?Thank you so much for your kind help in advance." - Chris, China.Dear Tina and Chris, Thank you for writing to us.That is true, we are seeing and hearing these words very often in the news. When the coronavirus crisis began, it was called an "epidemic" or an "outbreak."After it spread across the whole world, the World Health Organization (WHO) decided to call it a "pandemic" on March 11.Here are some examples from news stories about "epidemics" and "pandemic:"Italy's coronavirus epidemic began in January.
