Talk:COVID-19 pandemic

This  level-4 vital article is rated GA-class on Wikipedia's content assessment scale.
It is of interest to multiple WikiProjects.Guild of Copy Editors

This article was copy edited by Lfstevens, a member of the Guild of Copy Editors, on 25 December 2021.

COVID-19 Top‑importance

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject COVID-19, a project to coordinate efforts to improve all COVID-19-related articles. If you would like to help, you are invited to join and to participate in project discussions.
Top	This article has been rated as Top-importance on the project's importance scale.

Medicine: Pulmonology Top‑importance

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject Medicine, which recommends that medicine-related articles follow the Manual of Style for medicine-related articles and that biomedical information in any article use high-quality medical sources. Please visit the project page for details or ask questions at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Medicine.
Top	This article has been rated as Top-importance on the project's importance scale.
	This article is supported by the Pulmonology task force (assessed as Top-importance).

Viruses Top‑importance

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject Viruses, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of viruses on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.
Top	This article has been rated as Top-importance on the project's importance scale.

Disaster management Top‑importance

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject Disaster management, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Disaster management on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.
Top	This article has been rated as Top-importance on the project's importance scale.

China: History High‑importance

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject China, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of China related articles on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.
High	This article has been rated as High-importance on the project's importance scale.
	This article is supported by WikiProject Chinese history (assessed as High-importance).

2010s High‑importance

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject 2010s, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of 2010s on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.
High	This article has been rated as High-importance on the importance scale.

          Other talk page banners

WikiProject COVID-19 consensus

WikiProject COVID-19 aims to add to and build consensus for pages relating to COVID-19. They have so far discussed items listed below. Please discuss proposed improvements to them at the project talk page.

General

1. Superseded by TfD October 2020 and later practice - consult regular {{Current}} guidance.
2. Refrain from using Worldometer (worldometers.info) as a source due to common errors being observed as noted on the Case Count Task Force common errors page. (April 2020, April 2020)
3. For infoboxes on the main articles of countries, use Wuhan, Hubei, China for the origin parameter. (March 2020)
4. "Social distancing" is generally preferred over "physical distancing". (April 2020, May 2020)

Page title

1. COVID-19 (full caps) is preferable in the body of all articles, and in the title of all articles/category pages/etc.(RM April 2020, including the main article itself, RM March 2021).
2. SARS-CoV-2 (exact capitalisation and punctuation) is the common name of the virus and should be used for the main article's title, as well as in the body of all articles, and in the title of all other articles/category pages/etc. (June 2022, overturning April 2020)

Map

1. There is no consensus about which color schemes to use, but they should be consistent within articles as much as possible. There is agreement that there should be six levels of shading, plus gray   for areas with no instances or no data. (May 2020)
2. There is no consensus about whether the legend, the date, and other elements should appear in the map image itself. (May 2020)
3. For map legends, ranges should use fixed round numbers (as opposed to updating dynamically). There is no consensus on what base population to use for per capita maps. (May 2020)

To ensure you are viewing the current list, you may wish to .

          Article history

Section sizes

Section size for COVID-19 pandemic (83 sections) Section name Byte count Section total (Top) 9,706 9,706 Terminology 183 9,543 Pandemic 1,381 1,381 Virus names 7,979 7,979 Epidemiology 1,191 39,172 Background 8,434 8,434 Cases 9,253 9,253 Deaths 11,678 20,294 Infection fatality ratio (IFR) 6,977 6,977 Case fatality ratio (CFR) 1,639 1,639 Disease 33 38,217 Variants 2,439 2,439 Signs and symptoms 3,793 3,793 Transmission 2,604 2,604 Cause 2,010 2,010 Diagnosis 3,774 3,774 Prevention 2,575 8,801 Vaccines 6,226 6,226 Treatment 9,970 9,970 Prognosis 4,793 4,793 Strategies 4,529 18,528 Containment 1,945 1,945 Mitigation 908 5,294 Non-pharmaceutical interventions 792 792 Other measures 1,005 1,005 Contact tracing 2,589 2,589 Health care 2,793 5,777 Improvised manufacturing 2,984 2,984 Herd immunity 983 983 History 133 35,649 2019 4,818 4,818 2020 9,953 9,953 2021 6,320 6,320 2022 8,229 8,229 2023 6,196 6,196 Responses 3,372 72,394 Asia 15,068 15,068 Europe 15,732 15,732 North America 7,429 7,429 South America 6,302 6,302 Africa 7,198 7,198 Oceania 9,322 9,322 Antarctica 2,698 2,698 United Nations 3,856 3,856 WHO 1,417 1,417 Restrictions 2,019 8,075 Travel restrictions 3,801 3,801 Repatriation of foreign citizens 2,255 2,255 Impact 106 80,915 Economics 4,891 9,497 Supply shortages 4,606 4,606 Arts and cultural heritage 2,091 2,091 Politics 1,638 25,098 Brazil 6,057 6,057 China 2,546 2,546 Italy 2,774 2,774 United States 5,498 5,498 Other countries 6,585 6,585 Food systems 2,358 2,358 Education 2,359 2,359 Health 10,893 10,893 Environment 7,123 7,123 Discrimination and prejudice 6,995 6,995 Lifestyle changes 7,405 7,405 Historiography 3,302 3,302 Religion 3,688 3,688 Information dissemination 2,420 3,974 Misinformation 1,554 1,554 Culture and society 5,646 5,646 Transition to later phases 6,433 6,433 Long-term effects 24 5,547 Economic 2,064 2,064 Travel 1,195 1,195 Health 435 435 Immunizations 1,829 1,829 See also 595 595 Notes 138 138 References 32,253 32,253 Further reading 4,226 4,226 External links 34 5,443 Health agencies 1,369 1,369 Data and graphs 1,045 1,045 Medical journals 2,995 2,995 Total 376,454 376,454

Section sizes

Section size for COVID-19 pandemic (83 sections) Section name Byte count Section total (Top) 9,706 9,706 Terminology 183 9,543 Pandemic 1,381 1,381 Virus names 7,979 7,979 Epidemiology 1,191 39,172 Background 8,434 8,434 Cases 9,253 9,253 Deaths 11,678 20,294 Infection fatality ratio (IFR) 6,977 6,977 Case fatality ratio (CFR) 1,639 1,639 Disease 33 38,217 Variants 2,439 2,439 Signs and symptoms 3,793 3,793 Transmission 2,604 2,604 Cause 2,010 2,010 Diagnosis 3,774 3,774 Prevention 2,575 8,801 Vaccines 6,226 6,226 Treatment 9,970 9,970 Prognosis 4,793 4,793 Strategies 4,529 18,528 Containment 1,945 1,945 Mitigation 908 5,294 Non-pharmaceutical interventions 792 792 Other measures 1,005 1,005 Contact tracing 2,589 2,589 Health care 2,793 5,777 Improvised manufacturing 2,984 2,984 Herd immunity 983 983 History 133 35,649 2019 4,818 4,818 2020 9,953 9,953 2021 6,320 6,320 2022 8,229 8,229 2023 6,196 6,196 Responses 3,372 72,394 Asia 15,068 15,068 Europe 15,732 15,732 North America 7,429 7,429 South America 6,302 6,302 Africa 7,198 7,198 Oceania 9,322 9,322 Antarctica 2,698 2,698 United Nations 3,856 3,856 WHO 1,417 1,417 Restrictions 2,019 8,075 Travel restrictions 3,801 3,801 Repatriation of foreign citizens 2,255 2,255 Impact 106 80,915 Economics 4,891 9,497 Supply shortages 4,606 4,606 Arts and cultural heritage 2,091 2,091 Politics 1,638 25,098 Brazil 6,057 6,057 China 2,546 2,546 Italy 2,774 2,774 United States 5,498 5,498 Other countries 6,585 6,585 Food systems 2,358 2,358 Education 2,359 2,359 Health 10,893 10,893 Environment 7,123 7,123 Discrimination and prejudice 6,995 6,995 Lifestyle changes 7,405 7,405 Historiography 3,302 3,302 Religion 3,688 3,688 Information dissemination 2,420 3,974 Misinformation 1,554 1,554 Culture and society 5,646 5,646 Transition to later phases 6,433 6,433 Long-term effects 24 5,547 Economic 2,064 2,064 Travel 1,195 1,195 Health 435 435 Immunizations 1,829 1,829 See also 595 595 Notes 138 138 References 32,253 32,253 Further reading 4,226 4,226 External links 34 5,443 Health agencies 1,369 1,369 Data and graphs 1,045 1,045 Medical journals 2,995 2,995 Total 376,454 376,454

Current consensus

NOTE: It is recommended to link to this list in your edit summary when reverting, as:
[[Talk:COVID-19 pandemic#Current consensus|current consensus]] item [n]
To ensure you are viewing the current list, you may wish to .

01. Superseded by #9

The first few sentences of the lead's second paragraph should state The virus is typically spread during close contact and via respiratory droplets produced when people cough or sneeze. Respiratory droplets may be produced during breathing but the virus is not considered airborne. It may also spread when one touches a contaminated surface and then their face. It is most contagious when people are symptomatic, although spread may be possible before symptoms appear. (RfC March 2020)

02. Superseded by #7

The infobox should feature a per capita count map most prominently, and a total count by country map secondarily. (RfC March 2020)

03. Obsolete

The article should not use {{Current}} at the top. (March 2020)

04. Do not include a sentence in the lead section noting comparisons to World War II. (March 2020)

05. Cancelled

Include subsections covering the domestic responses of Italy, China, Iran, the United States, and South Korea. Do not include individual subsections for France, Germany, the Netherlands, Australia and Japan. (RfC March 2020) Include a short subsection on Sweden focusing on the policy controversy. (May 2020)

Subsequently overturned by editing and recognized as obsolete. (July 2024)

06. Obsolete

There is a 30 day moratorium on move requests until 26 April 2020. (March 2020)

07. There is no consensus that the infobox should feature a confirmed cases count map most prominently, and a deaths count map secondarily. (May 2020)

08. Superseded by #16

The clause on xenophobia in the lead section should read ...and there have been incidents of xenophobia and discrimination against Chinese people and against those perceived as being Chinese or as being from areas with high infection rates. (RfC April 2020)

09. Cancelled

Supersedes #1. The first several sentences of the lead section's second paragraph should state The virus is mainly spread during close contact and by small droplets produced when those infected cough, sneeze or talk. These droplets may also be produced during breathing; however, they rapidly fall to the ground or surfaces and are not generally spread through the air over large distances. People may also become infected by touching a contaminated surface and then their face. The virus can survive on surfaces for up to 72 hours. Coronavirus is most contagious during the first three days after onset of symptoms, although spread may be possible before symptoms appear and in later stages of the disease. (April 2020)

Notes

On 17:16, 6 April 2020, these first several sentences were replaced with an extracted fragment from the coronavirus disease 2019 article, which at the time was last edited at 17:11.

010. The article title is COVID-19 pandemic. The title of related pages should follow this scheme as well. (RM April 2020, RM August 2020)

011. The lead section should use Wuhan, China to describe the virus's origin, without mentioning Hubei or otherwise further describing Wuhan. (April 2020)

012. Superseded by #19

The lead section's second sentence should be phrased using the words first identified and December 2019. (May 2020)

013. Superseded by #15

File:President Donald Trump suggests measures to treat COVID-19 during Coronavirus Task Force press briefing.webm should be used as the visual element of the misinformation section, with the caption U.S. president Donald Trump suggested at a press briefing on 23 April that disinfectant injections or exposure to ultraviolet light might help treat COVID-19. There is no evidence that either could be a viable method. (1:05 min) (May 2020, June 2020)

014. Overturned

Do not mention the theory that the virus was accidentally leaked from a laboratory in the article. (RfC May 2020) This result was overturned at Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard, as there is consensus that there is no consensus to include or exclude the lab leak theory. (RfC May 2024)

015. Supersedes #13. File:President Donald Trump suggests measures to treat COVID-19 during Coronavirus Task Force press briefing.webm should not be used as the visual element of the misinformation section. (RfC November 2020)

016. Supersedes #8. Incidents of xenophobia and discrimination are considered WP:UNDUE for a full sentence in the lead. (RfC January 2021)

017. Only include one photograph in the infobox. There is no clear consensus that File:COVID-19 Nurse (cropped).jpg should be that one photograph. (May 2021)

018. Superseded by #19

The first sentence is The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is a global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). (August 2021, RfC October 2023)

019. Supersedes #12 and #18. The first sentence is The global COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an outbreak in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. (June 2024)

De facto "from-till" must be made better visible

The first paragraph MUST contain the year when life retuned to normal in most countries, as does the infobox (as a heading plus inside). It's history already, and people come here looking for the basic "from-till" info of any historical event - concisely and well visible. The details interest less and less users, they're yesterday's news.

To preempt conradiction: China kept strict rules for longer, the WHO had its own criteria, but historically and in practical terms, most people returned to normal life in 2022, the criteria being - pls. mentally add the phrase "in most countries" to every line:

• very low rate of severe illness and fatalities
• no mass closures, isolation, quaranteen, curfew, Zoom schooling etc.
• no mandatory mask wearing, social distancing, extreme hygene rules
• high vaccination and mass immunity rate

Please, don't fall back into pedantic arguments. Compare with Spanish flu pandemic etc.: deadly between X and Y, lingering for Z more years/months, period. All else is of interest only for epidemiologists and other specialists, i.e. here maybe worth keeping outside the intro (lead), but definitely not within. Thanks. Arminden (talk) 10:18, 28 July 2024 (UTC)

The lead already says "Common mitigation measures during the public health emergency included travel restrictions, lockdowns, business restrictions and closures, workplace hazard controls, mask mandates, quarantines, testing systems, and contact tracing of the infected." - which of course means these things were not common outside of the period of the public health emergency. The last paragraph of the lead also touches on this, and the infobox has the PHEIC dates. That said, I wouldn't mind adding something in the prose similar to or based on what Tedros Ghebreyesus said here, about how life in most countries returned to how it was before the pandemic by May 2023. I certainly agree that such social aspects and the 'return to normal' are a huge part of this as a historical event, and that the topic is not purely about a technical epidemiological definition (although even in that field there is not a singular, specific definition of "pandemic"). Crossroads ^-talk- 02:50, 30 July 2024 (UTC)

"The pandemic" listed at Redirects for discussion

The redirect The pandemic has been listed at redirects for discussion to determine whether its use and function meets the redirect guidelines. Readers of this page are welcome to comment on this redirect at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2024 August 25 § The pandemic until a consensus is reached. Mondtaler (talk) 15:34, 25 August 2024 (UTC)

thank you--Ozzie10aaaa (talk) 16:42, 25 August 2024 (UTC)

Draft:Humor during the COVID-19 pandemic

There’s a draft with great potential here: Draft:Humor during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thriley (talk) 18:36, 28 August 2024 (UTC)

that needs to go to AFC (and would seem, even if accepted, not appropriate for this article) IMO--Ozzie10aaaa (talk) 18:51, 28 August 2024 (UTC)

I posted it here to get any interested editors attention. Thriley (talk) 19:07, 28 August 2024 (UTC)

Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 1 September 2024

This edit request has been answered. Set the |answered= or |ans= parameter to no to reactivate your request.

172.97.188.101 (talk) 15:15, 1 September 2024 (UTC) When the pandemic ended in May 2023, nobody wanted to do anything at all.

 Not done No source, no sense. Bon courage (talk) 15:20, 1 September 2024 (UTC)