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The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced that the coronavirus outbreak is officially a pandemic... but what is a pandemic?

Eight countries are now each reporting more than 1,000 cases of COVID-19, caused by the virus that has infected more than 120,000 people worldwide.

But what exactly is a pandemic? What does declaring one mean? And how are they dealt with?

The word 'pandemic' might sound a bit scary - but pandemics can be controlled.

Here's what you need to know.

What is a pandemic?

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A pandemic is when an infectious disease spreads easily from person to person in lots of parts of the world.

It's different to an epidemic - that's when an unusually large number of people in a smaller area get a disease at the same time.

So a pandemic is when an epidemic spreads across the world.

What happens if a pandemic is declared?

When the WHO declares a pandemic, it leads to a huge co-ordinated effort between countries and scientists all over the world. Money and resources like medicines are used in a really organised and targeted way to try to stop the pandemic as soon as possible.

The WHO's goal is "the highest level of health" for "all peoples". So when it makes these declarations it is all about helping people to get better.

Pandemic control can lead to countries and governments working closely together, people getting extra vaccinations when appropriate, asking people to stay at home, stopping people from gathering together in big groups or from travelling for a period of time, and making sure that instructions are communicated clearly so people know what to do.

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A pandemic is more about how far a disease has spread, rather than how severe the disease is.

There have been lots of pandemics that have been controlled.

Some of the biggest examples in history have been the HIV/AIDS pandemic and the bird flu pandemic in 2009.

How do pandemics end?

Pandemics don't last forever, and there are different reasons for that - including the amount of co-ordinated effort that is used to shut them down.

Other reasons include people becoming more immune to the disease, and it starts to affect fewer and fewer people.

Or if the disease is carried by animals, these animals might become inactive.

An example of this is malaria - it's transmitted by mosquitoes and they become inactive during cold weather or winter.

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Coronavirus: What is a pandemic? - CBBC Newsround

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The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced that the coronavirus outbreak is officially a pandemic... but what is a pandemic? Eight countries are now each reporting more than 1,000 cases of COVID-19, caused by the virus that has infected more than 120,000 people worldwide. But what exactly is a pandemic?

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Kids learn about historic epidemic and pandemic diseases such as the Plague of Athens, Black Death, Spanish flu, cholera, and smallpox.

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The new coronavirus pandemic is historic. But this isn't the first time a virus has sickened people around the globe. Pandemics have happened throughout history.

The most recent pandemic started just over a decade ago, in 2009, with the outbreak of a new kind of H1N1 flu called the swine flu. The illness most likely started in North America, and it quickly spread around the world.

Swine flu wasn't nearly as deadly as the coronavirus. That made it much easier to control. Governments did not have to issue stay-at-home orders like we are seeing today. By late 2009, vaccines were available to prevent people from becoming sick.

Throughout History

Before the modern era of pandemics, the United States was hit hard by yellow fever, which arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1793. Yellow fever attacks a person's liver and kidneys. The disease got its name because it causes the skin to take on a yellow tint.

Back then, scientists didn't understand what caused yellow fever or how it spread, which made it difficult to stop the outbreak. But when the weather in Philadelphia cooled down in the fall, the outbreak let up. That's because yellow fever is spread by mosquitoes, which aren't active in cold weather-though scientists wouldn't learn that until a century later. Today, yellow fever can be prevented with a vaccine. The disease is no longer a concern in the U.S., but people traveling to parts of Africa and South America may be required to take precautions.

In 1918, a true pandemic hit, caused by a new kind of flu called the Spanish flu. (The disease didn't actually start in Spain, but newspapers there were among the first to report on it. So people started calling it the Spanish flu, and the name stuck.)

Experts believe that one third of the world's population was infected with the Spanish flu. Many historians have compared it to the new coronavirus. "They're similar in the way they infect people," historian John Barry told TIME for Kids. "They're similar in the way they spread." Both the coronavirus and Spanish flu can affect a person's lungs. And they both spread when a person coughs, sneezes, or talks.

Stopping the Spread

During the Spanish flu pandemic, the U.S. put in place restrictions similar to those we're seeing today. People were asked to wear face masks and encouraged to wash their hands. Officials limited large gatherings and ordered people to quarantine themselves.

"Quarantine is centuries and centuries old," says Katherine Foss. She's an author and professor who has studied pandemics throughout history. "It's the number-one practice that is used to stop an outbreak. And it works even when scientists don't know what is making people sick."

Science has come a long way since 1918. Back then, doctors didn't even have microscopes that were powerful enough to let them see the viruses that cause pandemics. Today, scientists and doctors have advanced technology to help them battle the new coronavirus. "But since we're dealing with a brand-new virus that nobody has ever seen before, it still takes time to develop vaccines and treatments using modern medicine," Barry says. "In the meantime, the only thing left to fight it with are public-health measures like quarantine."

Barry says that although there have been many pandemics throughout history, kids should understand that this one is unusually severe.

"This is something you're going to remember for the rest of your life," he says. "This is not ordinary. This is a special time that requires special courage. You have an opportunity to rise to greatness. Social distancing matters, and it saves lives."

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The new coronavirus pandemic is historic. But this isn't the first time a virus has sickened people around the globe. Pandemics have happened throughout history. The most recent pandemic started just over a decade ago, in 2009, with the outbreak...

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History of Epidemics in London | The Great Plague, Cholera, Spanish Flu (2020)

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Coronavirus: Death toll in the UK reaches 422 - BBC News

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Coronavirus: What is social distancing? - BBC News

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Coronavirus: More myths to ignore - BBC News

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In the realm of infectious diseases, a pandemic is the worst case scenario. When an epidemic spreads beyond a country's borders, that's when the disease officially becomes a pandemic.

Communicable diseases existed during humankind's hunter-gatherer days, but the shift to agrarian life 10,000 years ago created communities that made epidemics more possible. Malaria, tuberculosis, leprosy, influenza, smallpox and others first appeared during this period.

READ MORE: See all pandemic coverage here.
The more civilized humans became, building cities and forging trade routes to connect with other cities, and waging wars with them, the more likely pandemics became. See a timeline below of pandemics that, in ravaging human populations, changed history.

430 B.C.: Athens

The earliest recorded pandemic happened during the Peloponnesian War. After the disease passed through Libya, Ethiopia and Egypt, it crossed the Athenian walls as the Spartans laid siege. As much as two-thirds of the population died.

The symptoms included fever, thirst, bloody throat and tongue, red skin and lesions. The disease, suspected to have been typhoid fever, weakened the Athenians significantly and was a significant factor in their defeat by the Spartans.

165 A.D.: Antonine Plague

The Antonine plague was possibly an early appearance of smallpox that began with the Huns. The Huns then infected the Germans, who passed it to the Romans and then returning troops spread it throughout the Roman empire. Symptoms included fever, sore throat, diarrhea and, if the patient lived long enough, pus-filled sores. This plague continued until about 180 A.D., claiming Emperor Marcus Aurelius as one of its victims.

250 A.D.: Cyprian Plague

Named after the first known victim, the Christian bishop of Carthage, the Cyprian plague entailed diarrhea, vomiting, throat ulcers, fever and gangrenous hands and feet.

City dwellers fled to the country to escape infection but instead spread the disease further. Possibly starting in Ethiopia, it passed through Northern Africa, into Rome, then onto Egypt and northward.

There were recurring outbreaks over the next three centuries. In 444 A.D., it hit Britain and obstructed defense efforts against the Picts and the Scots, causing the British to seek help from the Saxons, who would soon control the island.

541 A.D.: Justinian Plague

First appearing in Egypt, the Justinian plague spread through Palestine and the Byzantine Empire, and then throughout the Mediterranean.

The plague changed the course of the empire, squelching Emperor Justinian's plans to bring the Roman Empire back together and causing massive economic struggle. It is also credited with creating an apocalyptic atmosphere that spurred the rapid spread of Christianity.

Recurrences over the next two centuries eventually killed about 50 million people, 26 percent of the world population. It is believed to be the first significant appearance of the bubonic plague, which features enlarged lymphatic gland and is carried by rats and spread by fleas.

11th Century: Leprosy

Though it had been around for ages, leprosy grew into a pandemic in Europe in the Middle Ages, resulting in the building of numerous leprosy-focused hospitals to accommodate the vast number of victims.

A slow-developing bacterial disease that causes sores and deformities, leprosy was believed to be a punishment from God that ran in families. This belief led to moral judgments and ostracization of victims. Now known as Hansen's disease, it still afflicts tens of thousands of people a year and can be fatal if not treated with antibiotics.

1350: The Black Death

Responsible for the death of one-third of the world population, this second large outbreak of the bubonic plague possibly started in Asia and moved west in caravans. Entering through Sicily in 1347 A.D. when plague sufferers arrived in the port of Messina, it spread throughout Europe rapidly. Dead bodies became so prevalent that many remained rotting on the ground and created a constant stench in cities.

England and France were so incapacitated by the plague that the countries called a truce to their war. The British feudal system collapsed when the plague changed economic circumstances and demographics. Ravaging populations in Greenland, Vikings lost the strength to wage battle against native populations, and their exploration of North America halted.

1492: The Columbian Exchange

Following the arrival of the Spanish in the Caribbean, diseases such as smallpox, measles and bubonic plague were passed along to the native populations by the Europeans. With no previous exposure, these diseases devastated indigenous people, with as many as 90 percent dying throughout the north and south continents.

Upon arrival on the island of Hispaniola, Christopher Columbus encountered the Taino people, population 60,000. By 1548, the population stood at less than 500. This scenario repeated itself throughout the Americas.

In 1520, the Aztec Empire was destroyed by a smallpox infection. The disease killed many of its victims and incapacitated others. It weakened the population so they were unable to resist Spanish colonizers and left farmers unable to produce needed crops.

Research in 2019 even concluded that the deaths of some 56 million Native Americans in the 16th and 17th centuries, largely through disease, may have altered Earth's climate as vegetation growth on previously tilled land drew more CO2 from the atmosphere and caused a cooling event.
READ MORE: How Colonization's Death Toll May Have Affected Earth's Climate
1665: The Great Plague of London

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In another devastating appearance, the bubonic plague led to the deaths of 20 percent of London's population. As human death tolls mounted and mass graves appeared, hundreds of thousands of cats and dogs were slaughtered as the possible cause and the disease spread through ports along the Thames. The worst of the outbreak tapered off in the fall of 1666, around the same time as another destructive event-the Great Fire of London.

1817: First Cholera Pandemic

The first of seven cholera pandemics over the next 150 years, this wave of the small intestine infection originated in Russia, where one million people died. Spreading through feces-infected water and food, the bacterium was passed along to British soldiers who brought it to India where millions more died. The reach of the British Empire and its navy spread cholera to Spain, Africa, Indonesia, China, Japan, Italy, Germany and America, where it killed 150,000 people. A vaccine was created in 1885, but pandemics continued.

1855: The Third Plague Pandemic

Starting in China and moving to India and Hong Kong, the bubonic plague claimed 15 million victims. Initially spread by fleas during a mining boom in Yunnan, the plague is considered a factor in the Parthay rebellion and the Taiping rebellion. India faced the most substantial casualties, and the epidemic was used as an excuse for repressive policies that sparked some revolt against the British. The pandemic was considered active until 1960 when cases dropped below a couple hundred.

1875: Fiji Measles Pandemic

After Fiji ceded to the British Empire, a royal party visited Australia as a gift from Queen Victoria. Arriving during a measles outbreak, the royal party brought the disease back to their island, and it was spread further by the tribal heads and police who met with them upon their return.

Spreading quickly, the island was littered with corpses that were scavenged by wild animals, and entire villages died and were burned down, sometimes with the sick trapped inside the fires. One-third of Fiji's population, a total of 40,000 people, died.

1889: Russian Flu

The first significant flu pandemic started in Siberia and Kazakhstan, traveled to Moscow, and made its way into Finland and then Poland, where it moved into the rest of Europe. By the following year, it had crossed the ocean into North America and Africa. By the end of 1890, 360,000 had died.

1918: Spanish Flu

The avian-borne flu that resulted in 50 million deaths worldwide, the 1918 flu was first observed in Europe, the United States and parts of Asia before swiftly spreading around the world. At the time, there were no effective drugs or vaccines to treat this killer flu strain. Wire service reports of a flu outbreak in Madrid in the spring of 1918 led to the pandemic being called the " Spanish flu."

By October, hundreds of thousands of Americans died and body storage scarcity hit crisis level. But the flu threat disappeared in the summer of 1919 when most of the infected had either developed immunities or died.
READ MORE: Why October 1918 Was America's Deadliest Month Ever
1957: Asian flu

Starting in Hong Kong and spreading throughout China and then into the United States, the Asian flu became widespread in England where, over six months, 14,000 people died. A second wave followed in early 1958, causing an estimated total of about 1.1 million deaths globally, with 116,000 deaths in the United States alone. A vaccine was developed, effectively containing the pandemic.

1981: HIV/AIDS

First identified in 1981, AIDS destroys a person's immune system, resulting in eventual death by diseases that the body would usually fight off. Those infected by the HIV virus encounter fever, headache, and enlarged lymph nodes upon infection. When symptoms subside, carriers become highly infectious through blood and genital fluid, and the disease destroys t-cells.

AIDS was first observed in American gay communities but is believed to have developed from a chimpanzee virus from West Africa in the 1920s. The disease, which spreads through certain body fluids, moved to Haiti in the 1960s, and then New York and San Francisco in the 1970s.

Treatments have been developed to slow the progress of the disease, but 35 million people worldwide have died of AIDS since its discovery, and a cure is yet to be found.

2003: SARS

First identified in 2003 after several months of cases, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome is believed to have possibly started with bats, spread to cats and then to humans in China, followed by 26 other countries, infecting 8,096 people, with 774 deaths.

SARS is characterized by respiratory problems, dry cough, fever and head and body aches and is spread through respiratory droplets from coughs and sneezes.

Quarantine efforts proved effective and by July, the virus was contained and hasn't reappeared since. China was criticized for trying to suppress information about the virus at the beginning of the outbreak.

SARS was seen by global health professionals as a wake-up call to improve outbreak responses, and lessons from the pandemic were used to keep diseases like H1N1, Ebola and Zika under control.

2019: COVID-19

STR/AFP/Getty Images

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization announced that the COVID-19 virus was officially a pandemic after barreling through 114 countries in three months and infecting over 118,000 people. And the spread wasn't anywhere near finished.

COVID-19 is caused by a novel coronavirus-a new coronavirus strain that has not been previously found in people. Symptoms include respiratory problems, fever and cough, and can lead to pneumonia and death. Like SARS, it's spread through droplets from sneezes.

The first reported case in China appeared November 17, 2019, in the Hubei Province, but went unrecognized. Eight more cases appeared in December with researchers pointing to an unknown virus.

Many learned about COVID-19 when ophthalmologist Dr. Li Wenliang defied government orders and released safety information to other doctors. The following day, China informed WHO and charged Li with a crime. Li died from COVID-19 just over a month later.

Without a vaccine available, the virus spread beyond Chinese borders to nearly every country in the world. By December 2020, it had infected more than 75 million people and led to more than 1.6 million deaths worldwide. The number of new cases was growing faster than ever, with more than 500,000 reported each day on average.

SOURCES

Disease and History by Frederick C. Cartwright, published by Sutton Publishing, 2014.

Disease: The Story of Disease and Mankind's Continuing Struggle Against It by Mary Dobson, published by Quercus, 2007.

Encyclopedia of Pestilence, Pandemics, and Plagues by Ed, Joseph P. Byrne, published by Greenwood Press, 2008.

Influenza, The American Experience.

Source Book of Medical History, Logan Clendening, published by Dover Publications, 1960.

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In the realm of infectious diseases, a pandemic is the worst case scenario. When an epidemic spreads beyond a country's borders, that's when the disease officially becomes a pandemic. Communicable diseases existed during humankind's hunter-gatherer days, but the shift to agrarian life 10,000 years ago created communities that made epidemics more possible.

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Just as the film Contagion has found a second life with news of the coronavirus outbreak, so too are novels about epidemics popping up on reading lists around the country. With stakes so high, it's easy to see why novelists find outbreaks of disease so compelling. Here are 20 great fictional takes, ranging from the historical to the futuristic.

Every editorial product is independently selected. If you buy something through our links, New York may earn an affiliate commission.

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The Best Pandemic Books to Read During Coronavirus

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Just as the film Contagion has found a second life with news of the coronavirus outbreak, so too are novels about epidemics popping up on reading lists around the country. Vulture compiled a list of pandemic fiction for these dark times.

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Published on

1. 1. Invisible Enemies: Stories of Infectious Diseases By Jeanette Farrell

2. 2. Seven Infectious Diseases <ul><li>Smallpox </li></ul><ul><li>Leprosy </li></ul><ul><li>Plague </li></ul><ul><li>Tuberculosis </li></ul><ul><li>Malaria </li></ul><ul><li>Cholera </li></ul><ul><li>AIDS </li></ul>

3. 3. Smallpox <ul><li>No effective defense against disease until 1800s </li></ul><ul><li>Traveled easily </li></ul><ul><li>Many people died; those who survived had scars on their faces </li></ul><ul><ul><li>No eyelashes </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Face covered with shallow dishes </li></ul></ul>

4. 4. Smallpox (Continued) <ul><li>Asia, Africa, and India practiced inoculation </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Gave minor case of smallpox to patient, leaving victim alive with scars, but immune </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Inoculation was brought back to Europe and allowed Edward Jenner to develop a vaccination to defeat smallpox (cowpox) </li></ul><ul><li>Smallpox was eliminated from world by late 1970s </li></ul><ul><li>People worry that smallpox can still be created as a weapon </li></ul>

5. 5. Leprosy <ul><li>One of least contagious of all infectious diseases </li></ul><ul><li>People who had leprosy were considered outcasts ("untouchables") </li></ul><ul><li>Carville was a place for people who had leprosy (treated as a disease rather than a curse) </li></ul>

6. 6. Leprosy (Continued) <ul><li>Slow-growing disease in body </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Patches develop </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Can distort face </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Causes lost of eyelashes and eyebrows </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Nose could cave in </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>No sensation </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Leprosy bacteria develops in cool places (armadillo) </li></ul>

7. 7. Leprosy (Continued) <ul><li>Found ways to replace hands, fingers, feet, etc. </li></ul><ul><li>Doctors are pushing to eliminate leprosy as a health problem </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Sick people won't step forward and drugs are still being developed to stop leprosy (Promin) </li></ul></ul>

8. 8. Plague <ul><li>Plague spread throughout world by use of animals </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Black Death (fleas - rats) </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Nobody suspected that plague was spread by animals </li></ul><ul><li>By 1894, scientists had found out what germ caused the disease, but still did not know how it spread </li></ul><ul><ul><li>People finally discovered that it was rats (India and China) </li></ul></ul>

9. 9. Plague (Continued)

10. 10. Plague (Continued) <ul><li>In 1907, people went after rats when plague struck San Francisco for the second time </li></ul><ul><li>People now know that plague hides in rodents, thus they are better prepared </li></ul><ul><li>Plague will probably never be rid of (drug-resistant) </li></ul>

11. 11. Tuberculosis <ul><li>Germ reproduces slowly (lungs) </li></ul><ul><li>Kills more people than any other germ besides HIV (Symptoms: coughing up blood, paleness, and thinness) </li></ul><ul><li>Traveled around world before Columbus </li></ul><ul><li>Disease of the city (close contact) </li></ul><ul><li>Laennec's invention of the stethoscope helped learn more about tuberculosis </li></ul>

12. 12. Tuberculosis (Continued) <ul><li>Strange methods were used to treat TB before it was really known how to stop it (bleeding) </li></ul><ul><li>Koch isolated germ that causes TB </li></ul><ul><li>Years later, drugs were found that could stop TB </li></ul><ul><li>However, it became drug-resistant </li></ul><ul><li>Scientists are still working on ways to stop TB </li></ul>

13. 13. Malaria <ul><li>People thought it came from swamps </li></ul><ul><li>Actually came from parasite in stomach of Anopheles mosquito </li></ul><ul><li>Many people die from disease every year (more than one million) (Symptoms: chills and fever) </li></ul><ul><li>One solution was fever-tree bark </li></ul><ul><li>Sickle-cell trait can resist malaria </li></ul>

14. 14. Malaria (Continued) <ul><li>Malaria was driven from North America and Europe (farming) </li></ul><ul><li>Ronald Ross discovered malaria parasite (1897) </li></ul><ul><li>People are trying to get rid of malaria with use of pesticides and bug-proofing homes (screens) </li></ul><ul><li>Still exists mostly near equator </li></ul>

15. 15. Cholera <ul><li>Cholera led to many deaths, some within three hours after being struck with disease (1830s) (Symptoms: blue face, vomit, diarrhea) </li></ul><ul><li>Thought it came from the dirtiness of the cities </li></ul><ul><li>Could have been hiding in India for thousands of years before spreading through trade </li></ul>

16. 16. Cholera (Continued) <ul><li>Snow discovered that it spread through contaminated water (water pumps, etc.) </li></ul><ul><li>Cleaning up is the only way to fully eliminate disease (there are ways to treat it) </li></ul>

17. 17. AIDS <ul><li>First showed up in gay people in 1970s and 1980s (led to prejudice) </li></ul><ul><li>Eventually, doctors discovered that it traveled through bodily fluids and blood </li></ul><ul><li>Also discovered that HIV caused AIDS (worldwide = #1 killer...disease-wise) </li></ul>

18. 18. AIDS (Continued) <ul><li>Using condoms, fresh needles for injections, and restricting sexual activity will reduce risk of HIV and AIDS </li></ul><ul><li>Treatments are available, but there is no vaccine to fully cure it </li></ul><ul><li>Future is bright for the discoveries of cures for AIDS and other diseases </li></ul>

19. 19. AIDS (Continued)

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Published on 1. Invisible Enemies: Stories of Infectious Diseases By Jeanette Farrell 2. Seven Infectious Diseases Smallpox Leprosy Plague Tuberculosis Malaria Cholera AIDS 3. Smallpox No effective defense against disease until 1800s Traveled easily Many people died; those who survived had scars on their faces No eyelashes Face covered with shallow dishes 4.

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DISCOVER THE BOOK : LISTENING FOR LIONS 

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DISCOVER THE BOOK : LISTENING FOR LIONS 

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COVID 19 PANDEMIC AND ARTISTS - March 2021

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COVID 19 PANDEMIC AND ARTISTS - March 2021

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0:00 / 3:07•Watch full video

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The Queen : "We will be with our friends again, we will be with our families again, we will meet again."

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The Queen has said the UK "will succeed" in its fight against the coronavirus pandemic, in a rallying message to the nation.

In a rare speech, the monarch thanked people for following government rules to stay at home and praised those "coming together to help others".

She also thanked key workers, saying "every hour" of work "brings us closer to a return to more normal times".

It comes as the number of people to die with the virus in the UK reached 4,934.

'We will meet again'

Speaking from Windsor Castle, the Queen said: "While we have faced challenges before, this one is different."

"This time we join with all nations across the globe in a common endeavour, using the great advances of science and our instinctive compassion to heal. We will succeed - and that success will belong to every one of us.

"We should take comfort that while we may have more still to endure, better days will return: we will be with our friends again; we will be with our families again; we will meet again."

The Queen, 93, also said the "painful sense of separation from their loved ones" that social distancing was causing for people reminded her of the experience child evacuees had during the Second World War.

"Now, as then, we know, deep down, that it is the right thing to do," she said.

Mr Johnson has been self-isolating since he tested positive for the virus on 27 March.

In her address, the Queen said everyone who was following guidance to stay at home was "helping to protect the vulnerable and sparing many families the pain already felt by those who have lost loved ones".

"Together we are tackling this disease, and I want to reassure you that if we remain united and resolute, then we will overcome it," she added.

She also stressed the value of self-discipline and resolve - and said she hopes that, in the future, everyone would "be able to take pride in how they responded to this challenge".

There have been difficult royal speeches and addresses in the past - times when the wrong word or the wrong phrase could have undermined the message or let slip a critical opportunity.

The broadcast after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997 for example, or the speech the Queen gave on her visit to Ireland in 2011.

The Palace could have played it safe, stressed unity and given thanks. It would have served.

This was a different and much more ambitious broadcast, designed to reassure and to inspire.

But most of all to recast this crisis as a defining moment in a nation which will forever remember its collective effort to save the lives of its vulnerable.

The pre-recorded message, written by the Queen with her private secretary Sir Edward Young, was filmed by a single cameraman wearing protective equipment. All other technical staff were in another room.

It was broadcast on TV, radio and social media channels.

The decision to deliver the address was made "in close consultation with Downing Street", BBC royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell said.

Nightingale Hospital - the first temporary field hospital to open to treat coronavirus patients - shared photos on Twitter of staff listening to the speech, and thanked the monarch for recognising the hard work of frontline NHS staff.

Prince Charles, 71, spent seven days self-isolating in Scotland after testing positive and displaying mild symptoms.

It is only the fifth time the monarch has given such a speech in her 68-year reign.

While her Christmas Day message is an annual event, only rarely has the Queen made rallying speeches at key moments in the life of the nation:

A televised speech to celebrate her Diamond Jubilee in June 2012

A special address to the nation on the eve of her mother's funeral in April 2002

A live broadcast on the eve of the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, in September 1997

And a statement at the beginning of the land war in Iraq on 24 February 1991

On Sunday Mr Hancock urged the public to follow social distancing rules over a sunny weekend to protect the NHS and slow the spread of the virus.

The Department of Health said on Sunday there had been 621 more coronavirus-related deaths in the UK in the past day.

As of 09:00 BST on Sunday, 47,806 people had tested positive for the virus, the Department of Health said.

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Coronavirus: Queen tells UK 'we will succeed' in fight

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The Queen has said the UK "will succeed" in its fight against the coronavirus pandemic, in a rallying message to the nation. In a rare speech, the monarch thanked people for following government rules to stay at home and praised those "coming together to help others".

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why kids are hitting the pandemic wall - cnn

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Across time zones, age groups and socioeconomic lines, young people appear to be hitting a breaking point that developmental psychologists are calling the "pandemic wall." Here's why and what to do about it.

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Coronavirus: Five takeaways from Trump's Oval Office address - BBC News

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Captain Tom Moore has finished his challenge but says he'll continue talking while people donate