The actual threat of COVID-19

A pandemic (in Greek, pan "all", demos "people") is a term used to describe an epidemic of an infectious disease that causes significant mortality over a large area, including countries and continents. Could a virus currently spreading around the world that causes pseudoinfluenza symptoms be the basis for changing the criterion for determining a pandemic? According to WHO data from May 15, 2020, out of 153,517 confirmed COVID-19 cases, 5,735 deaths were recorded, allowing to determine the mortality rate at about 3.7%, which decreased significantly in the following months. The presented analysis from USA indicated that the elderly and those burdened with comorbidities are the most at risk groups, among them mainly those with cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Similar data were obtained in Sweden, a country where no strict sanitary regimen was introduced, adopting the principle of creating herd immunity. On the other hand, Polish information is not corroborated by reliable studies, both in terms of the number and quality of diagnostic tests performed and the treatment used in individual groups infected with SARS-CoV-2 and patients. This leads to questioning the legitimacy of the introduced epidemiological restrictions. Wellknown mechanisms of SARS-CoV-2 infection and actions of basic drugs indicate the possibility of controlling the potential infection of the whole society.