Experts say the coronavirus is on the cusp of becoming a pandemic. Some say it’s already there.

So far, the World Health Organization has declined to officially declare a pandemic. What happens once WHO crosses that line?

In some ways, nothing. Invoking the P-word won’t trigger any new funding, protocols or disaster response, experts say. It is more an acknowledgement of reality.

That’s why WHO may be hesitating to make the declaration because there’s little upside to it and plenty of downside such as causing widespread fear and panic.

“Using the word pandemic now does not fit the facts, but it may cause fear,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a news briefing last week.

That’s not to say, however, such a declaration wouldn’t be a big deal. A pandemic declaration would mean that this new disease can no longer be contained and that countries need to shift their efforts instead to dealing with the fallout.

In the past, WHO’s declarations of pandemic had much bigger policy implications. The last time WHO declared a pandemic during the 2009 H1N1 swine flu, it triggered aggressive actions by many, such as millions in spending to buy vaccines. But H1N1 turned out not to be as deadly and disruptive as feared and a lot of governments were mad about buying vaccines that they ended up not using, and harshly criticized WHO for its declaration. Burned by that response, WHO got rid of the six-stage procedure that led up to it declaring influenza pandemic.

“Each time they went up a stage, it raised alarm. When they finally reached pandemic stage it caused enormous panic,” said Lawrence Gostin, global health law professor at Georgetown University. “It was so dysfunctional and caused so much fear and panic that WHO abandoned that approach.”

WHO’s current approach is much more vague, essentially leaving it up to leaders to declare a pandemic when they deem it necessary. Experts say WHO officials may be leery of causing panic as in the past, but if they wait too long, they risk losing the public’s trust — an essential element in public health crises.