VIDEO The World Health Organization has officially declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic. What began as a handful of cases in Wuhan, China nearly two and a half months ago has evolved into a global outbreak, with the virus spreading to over 100 countries with over 100,000 cases and 4,000 deaths confirmed. Epidemiology professor Marc Lipsitch at Harvard University is projecting 40 – 70% of the world’s adult population could be infected by COVID-19.