Both of the words epidemic and pandemic are used in disease outbreaks, but they are not the same thing.  An epidemic speaks to a disease that is spreading from one person to another where the disease is not largely prevalent.  Epidemics occur in a region or a community.

A pandemic is when a disease has spread over a large geographic area, such as a country, continent, or the world.  The World Health Organization announced on March 11, 2020, that COVID-19 is a global pandemic, the first pandemic from a coronavirus.