how long ago was covid

The COVID-19 pandemic was officially declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11, 2020. The initial outbreak of COVID-19 began in December 2019 in Wuhan, China. The public health emergency of international concern officially ended in May 2023. So, as of October 2025, the pandemic started approximately 5 years and 7 months ago from the declaration of the pandemic (March 2020) and about 5 years and 10 months ago from the initial outbreak in December 2019. The formal emergency phase ended around 2 years and 5 months ago in May 2023.