Portal:COVID-19

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The COVID-19 portal

P:COVID-19

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Transmission and life-cycle of SARS-CoV-2 causing COVID-19.

Several COVID-19 vaccines have been approved and distributed in various countries, which have initiated mass vaccination campaigns. Other preventive measures include physical or social distancing, quarantining, ventilation of indoor spaces, use of face masks or coverings in public, covering coughs and sneezes, hand washing, and keeping unwashed hands away from the face. While work is underway to develop drugs that inhibit the virus, the primary treatment is symptomatic. Management involves the treatment of symptoms through supportive care, isolation, and experimental measures.

The pandemic has triggered severe social and economic disruption around the world, including the largest global recession since the Great Depression. Widespread supply shortages, including food shortages, were caused by supply chain disruptions. Reduced human activity led to an unprecedented decrease in pollution. Educational institutions and public areas were partially or fully closed in many jurisdictions, and many events were cancelled or postponed during 2020 and 2021. Misinformation has circulated through social media and mass media, and political tensions have intensified. The pandemic has raised issues of racial and geographic discrimination, health equity, and the balance between public health imperatives and individual rights. (Full article)

About the virus

SARS-CoV-2 as seen by a cryo-electron tomography scan.

SARS‑CoV‑2 belongs to the broad family of viruses known as coronaviruses. It is a positive-sense single-stranded RNA (+ssRNA) virus, with a single linear RNA segment. Coronaviruses infect humans, other mammals, including livestock and companion animals, and avian species. Human coronaviruses are capable of causing illnesses ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS, fatality rate ~34%). SARS-CoV-2 is the seventh known coronavirus to infect people, after 229E, NL63, OC43, HKU1, MERS-CoV, and the original SARS-CoV.

Like the SARS-related coronavirus implicated in the 2003 SARS outbreak, SARS‑CoV‑2 is a member of the subgenus Sarbecovirus (beta-CoV lineage B). Coronaviruses undergo frequent recombination. The mechanism of recombination in unsegmented RNA viruses such as SARS-CoV-2 is generally by copy-choice replication, in which gene material switches from one RNA template molecule to another during replication. The SARS-CoV-2 RNA sequence is approximately 30,000 bases in length, relatively long for a coronavirus—which in turn carry the largest genomes among all RNA families. Its genome consists nearly entirely of protein-coding sequences, a trait shared with other coronaviruses. (Full article)

Disease progress

As of 29 March 2023, 761,071,062 cases of COVID-19 have been reported, resulting in 6,879,664 reported deaths.^[1]

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Updated March 29, 2023.

COVID-19 pandemic by location^[1]
	Location	Cases	Deaths
	World^[a]	761,071,062	6,879,664
	European Union^[b]	182,927,871	1,218,726
	United States	102,544,598	1,114,970
	China^[c]	99,229,372	120,775
	India	44,696,984	530,808
	France	38,623,552	161,700
	Germany	38,306,781	169,802
	Brazil	37,145,514	699,634
	Japan	33,374,303	73,511
	South Korea	30,702,960	34,171
	Italy	25,651,205	188,750
	United Kingdom	24,448,729	209,396
	Russia	22,525,882	396,899
	Turkey	17,004,677	101,419
	Spain	13,783,163	119,872
	Vietnam	11,527,139	43,186
	Australia	11,380,700	19,447
	Argentina	10,044,957	130,472
	Taiwan	9,970,937	17,672
	Netherlands	8,605,996	22,991
	Iran	7,580,858	145,091
	Mexico	7,511,450	333,327
	Indonesia	6,742,061	160,977
	Poland	6,477,600	119,170
	Colombia	6,361,293	142,652
	Austria	6,003,506	22,043
	Greece	5,920,428	36,447
	Portugal	5,573,509	26,362
	Ukraine	5,427,360	111,457
	Chile	5,233,460	64,407
	Malaysia	5,045,192	36,967
	Israel	4,809,664	12,370
	Belgium	4,757,448	33,885
	Thailand	4,728,482	33,929
	Czech Republic	4,627,435	42,576
	Canada	4,618,059	51,800
	Peru	4,489,377	219,648
	Switzerland	4,394,296	13,960
	Philippines	4,078,994	66,272
	South Africa	4,068,224	102,595
	Denmark	3,405,709	8,330
	Romania	3,359,839	67,821
	Hong Kong	2,876,106	13,466
	Sweden	2,700,231	23,813
	Serbia	2,509,089	17,932
	Iraq	2,465,545	25,375
	Singapore	2,245,348	1,722
	Hungary	2,197,820	48,690
	New Zealand	2,196,555	2,586
	Bangladesh	2,037,978	29,445
	Slovakia	1,864,741	21,069
	Georgia	1,831,771	17,004
	Jordan	1,746,997	14,122
	Republic of Ireland	1,705,295	8,719
	Pakistan	1,578,358	30,645
	Kazakhstan	1,500,207	19,071
	Norway	1,480,136	5,266
	Finland	1,464,294	8,990
	Slovenia	1,336,426	9,183
	Lithuania	1,311,432	9,617
	Bulgaria	1,298,608	38,240
	Morocco	1,272,585	16,296
	Croatia	1,270,075	18,025
	Guatemala	1,241,016	20,183
	Lebanon	1,233,817	10,856
	Costa Rica	1,219,074	9,291
	Bolivia	1,195,171	22,368
	Tunisia	1,151,333	29,345
	Cuba	1,112,724	8,530
	Puerto Rico	1,104,424	5,837
	Ecuador	1,058,004	36,016
	United Arab Emirates	1,055,334	2,349
	Uruguay	1,035,046	7,619
	Panama	1,032,939	8,612
	Mongolia	1,007,907	2,136
	Nepal	1,001,185	12,020
	Belarus	994,037	7,118
	Latvia	976,535	6,286
	Saudi Arabia	831,502	9,624
	Azerbaijan	829,271	10,153
	Paraguay	735,759	19,880
	Palestine	703,228	5,708
	Bahrain	696,614	1,536
	Sri Lanka	672,054	16,832
	Kuwait	664,772	2,570
	Dominican Republic	660,848	4,384
	Cyprus	653,667	1,341
	Myanmar	633,993	19,490
	Estonia	615,727	2,949
	Moldova	613,886	12,025
	Venezuela	552,233	5,854
	Egypt	515,852	24,819
	Libya	507,206	6,437
	Ethiopia	500,212	7,572
	Qatar	496,802	688
	Réunion	494,595	921
	Honduras	472,340	11,111
	Armenia	447,730	8,732
	Bosnia and Herzegovina	401,973	16,296
	Oman	399,449	4,628
	North Macedonia	347,327	9,665
	Zambia	343,250	4,057
	Kenya	342,953	5,688
	Albania	333,726	3,601
	Botswana	329,785	2,795
	Luxembourg	318,951	1,224
	Mauritius	296,042	1,044
	Montenegro	289,292	2,808
	Brunei	280,790	150
	Kosovo	273,517	3,202
	Algeria	271,542	6,881
	Nigeria	266,641	3,155
	Zimbabwe	264,391	5,672
	Uzbekistan	251,660	1,637
	Mozambique	233,214	2,242
	Martinique	229,267	1,093
	Laos	218,027	758
	Afghanistan	209,848	7,881
	Iceland	209,191	259
	Kyrgyzstan	206,740	2,991
	Guadeloupe	202,004	1,010
	El Salvador	201,785	4,230
	Trinidad and Tobago	190,285	4,361
	Maldives	185,755	311
	Ghana	171,288	1,462
	Namibia	171,208	4,090
	Uganda	170,463	3,630
	Jamaica	154,471	3,521
	Cambodia	138,721	3,056
	Rwanda	133,194	1,468
	Cameroon	124,679	1,968
	Malta	117,898	831
	Barbados	106,798	579
	Angola	105,298	1,933
	French Guiana	98,041	413
	Democratic Republic of the Congo	95,814	1,464
	Senegal	88,945	1,971
	Malawi	88,613	2,686
	Ivory Coast	88,289	834
	Suriname	82,467	1,404
	New Caledonia	80,032	314
	French Polynesia	78,101	649
	Eswatini	74,323	1,425
	Guyana	73,105	1,298
	Belize	70,782	688
	Fiji	68,904	883
	Madagascar	67,941	1,423
	Jersey	66,391	161
	Sudan	63,899	5,026
	Mauritania	63,439	997
	Cabo Verde	63,251	413
	Bhutan	62,647	21
	Syria	57,423	3,163
	Burundi	53,661	15
	Guam	50,955	415
	Seychelles	50,937	172
	Gabon	48,981	306
	Andorra	47,908	159
	Papua New Guinea	46,826	670
	Curaçao	45,787	301
	Aruba	44,082	286
	Tanzania	42,927	846
	Mayotte	42,004	187
	Togo	39,416	290
	Guinea	38,280	467
	Isle of Man	38,008	116
	Bahamas	37,491	833
	Guernsey	35,139	67
	Faroe Islands	34,658	28
	Lesotho	34,490	706
	Haiti	34,202	860
	Mali	33,071	743
	Cayman Islands	31,472	37
	Saint Lucia	30,028	409
	Benin	27,999	163
	Somalia	27,334	1,361
	Republic of the Congo	25,110	388
	United States Virgin Islands	24,831	130
	Solomon Islands	24,575	153
	Federated States of Micronesia	24,195	63
	San Marino	23,747	123
	Timor-Leste	23,422	138
	Burkina Faso	22,056	396
	Liechtenstein	21,454	87
	Gibraltar	20,462	111
	Grenada	19,680	238
	Bermuda	18,836	161
	South Sudan	18,368	138
	Tajikistan	17,786	125
	Equatorial Guinea	17,130	183
	Tonga	16,813	12
	Samoa	16,427	31
	Monaco	16,135	67
	Dominica	15,760	74
	Marshall Islands	15,723	17
	Djibouti	15,690	189
	Nicaragua	15,672	245
	Central African Republic	15,367	113
	Northern Mariana Islands	13,722	41
	Gambia	12,598	372
	Collectivity of Saint Martin	12,276	46
	Vanuatu	12,014	14
	Greenland	11,971	21
	Yemen	11,945	2,159
	Caribbean Netherlands	11,811	41
	Sint Maarten	11,023	90
	Eritrea	10,189	103
	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	9,593	124
	Niger	9,513	315
	Guinea-Bissau	9,134	176
	Antigua and Barbuda	9,106	146
	Comoros	9,048	160
	American Samoa	8,321	34
	Liberia	8,090	294
	Sierra Leone	7,762	125
	Chad	7,682	194
	British Virgin Islands	7,305	64
	Cook Islands	7,033	2
	Saint Kitts and Nevis	6,597	46
	Turks and Caicos Islands	6,561	38
	Sao Tome and Principe	6,296	77
	Palau	5,995	9
	Saint Barthélemy	5,459	5
	Nauru	5,393	1
	Kiribati	5,014	18
	Anguilla	3,904	12
	Macau	3,514	121
	Wallis and Futuna	3,427	7
	Saint Pierre and Miquelon	3,418	2
	Tuvalu	2,779	—
	Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha	2,166	—
	Falkland Islands	1,923	—
	Montserrat	1,403	8
	Niue	747	—
	Vatican City	26	0
	Tokelau	5	0
	Pitcairn Islands	4	—
	North Korea	1	6
	Turkmenistan	0	0
^ Countries which do not report data for a column are not included in that column's world total. ^ Data on member states of the European Union are individually listed, but are also summed here for convenience. They are not double-counted in world totals. ^ Does not include special administrative regions (Hong Kong and Macau) or Taiwan.

(Full article)

About the symptoms

Symptoms of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)

The symptoms of COVID-19 are variable depending on the type of variant contracted, ranging from mild symptoms to a potentially fatal illness. Common symptoms include coughing, fever, loss of smell (anosmia) and taste (ageusia), with less common ones including headaches, nasal congestion and runny nose, muscle pain, sore throat, diarrhea, eye irritation, and toes swelling or turning purple, and in moderate to severe cases, breathing difficulties. People with the COVID-19 infection may have different symptoms, and their symptoms may change over time. Three common clusters of symptoms have been identified: one respiratory symptom cluster with cough, sputum, shortness of breath, and fever; a musculoskeletal symptom cluster with muscle and joint pain, headache, and fatigue; and a cluster of digestive symptoms with abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhea. In people without prior ear, nose, or throat disorders, loss of taste combined with loss of smell is associated with COVID-19 and is reported in as many as 88% of symptomatic cases. (Full article)

About the spread

COVID-19 is mainly transmitted when people breathe in air contaminated by droplets/aerosols and small airborne particles containing the virus. Infected people exhale those particles as they breathe, talk, cough, sneeze, or sing. Transmission is more likely the more physically close people are. However, infection can occur over longer distances, particularly indoors.

The number of people generally infected by one infected person varies, but it is estimated that the R₀ ("R nought" or "R zero") number is around 2.5. The disease often spreads in clusters, where infections can be traced back to an index case or geographical location. Often in these instances, superspreading events occur, where many people are infected by one person. (Full article)

Containment measures

Goals of mitigation include delaying and reducing peak burden on healthcare (flattening the curve) and lessening overall cases and health impact.

Many countries attempted to slow or stop the spread of COVID-19 by recommending, mandating or prohibiting behaviour changes, while others relied primarily on providing information. Measures ranged from public advisories to stringent lockdowns. Outbreak control strategies are divided into elimination and mitigation. Experts differentiate between" zero-COVID", which is an elimination strategy, and mitigation strategies that attempt to lessen the effects of the virus on society, but which still tolerate some level of transmission within the community. Containment strategies consists of the use of public health measures such as contact tracing, mass testing, border quarantine, lockdowns and mitigation software.These strategies can be pursued sequentially or simultaneously during the acquired immunity phase through natural and vaccine-induced immunity.

(Full article)

Videos

Animation describing the structure of a coronavirus
Video about what SARS-CoV-2 does to the human body
Video about the transmission of coronaviruses

(More videos)

Recent news

10 March 2023 – Corruption in Malaysia: Former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin is charged with corruption and abuse of power by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission over a COVID-19 subsidy programme. (CNA)

Did you know?

... that as an advisor to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Paul Alexander tried unsuccessfully to tell Dr. Anthony Fauci what he could and could not say about the coronavirus?
... that Radio Quarantine was founded in India by a group of professors, directors and PhD students in response to social isolation protocols following the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic?
... that Potamophylax coronavirus's range has been described as a battlefield between scientists and hydropower plant management?
(More did you know facts)

Data maps

Cases and deaths

Total confirmed cases by reporting area
  3,000 + per 100,000 inhabitants

  1,000–3,00 per 100,000 inhabitants

  300–1,000 per 100,000 inhabitants

  100–300 per 100,000 inhabitants

  30–100 per 100,000 inhabitants

  0–30 per 100,000 inhabitants

  None or no data
Total confirmed deaths by country
  100+ per 100,000 inhabitants

  18–100 per 100,000 inhabitants

  3.3–18 per 100,000 inhabitants

  0.6–3.3 per 100,000 inhabitants

  0.1–0.6 per 100,000 inhabitants

  <0.1 per 100,000 inhabitants

  None or no data

(More statistics)

Economic impact

The COVID-19 pandemic has had far-reaching economic consequences including the COVID-19 recession, the second largest global recession in recent history, decreased business in the services sector during the COVID-19 lockdowns, the 2020 stock market crash, which included the largest single-week stock market decline since the financial crisis of 2007–2008 and the impact of COVID-19 on financial markets, the 2021–2022 global supply chain crisis, the 2021–2022 inflation surge, shortages related to the COVID-19 pandemic including the 2020–present global chip shortage, panic buying, and price gouging. It led to governments providing an unprecedented amount of stimulus. The pandemic was also a factor in the 2021–2022 global energy crisis and 2022 food crises.

Many fashion, sport, and technology events have been canceled or have changed to be online. While the monetary impact on the travel and trade industry is yet to be estimated, it is likely to be in the billions and increasing. (Full article)

Workplace

Hazard controls for COVID-19 in workplaces are the application of occupational safety and health methodologies for hazard controls to the prevention of COVID-19. Vaccination is the most effective way to protect against severe illness or death from COVID-19. Multiple layers of controls are recommended, including measures such as remote work and flextime, increased ventilation, personal protective equipment (PPE) and face coverings, social distancing, and enhanced cleaning programs. (Full article)

Misinformation

False information, including intentional disinformation and conspiracy theories, about the scale of the COVID-19 pandemic and the origin, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of the disease has been spread through social media, text messaging, and mass media. False information has been propagated by celebrities, politicians, and other prominent public figures. Many countries have passed laws against "fake news", and thousands of people have been arrested for spreading COVID-19 misinformation. The spread of COVID-19 misinformation by governments has also been significant. (Full article)

Testing

COVID-19 testing involves analyzing samples to assess the current or past presence of SARS-CoV-2. The two main types of tests detect either the presence of the virus or antibodies produced in response to infection. Molecular tests for viral presence through its molecular components are used to diagnose individual cases and to allow public health authorities to trace and contain outbreaks. Antibody tests (serology immunoassays) instead show whether someone once had the disease. They are less useful for diagnosing current infections because antibodies may not develop for weeks after infection. It is used to assess disease prevalence, which aids the estimation of the infection fatality rate. (Full article)

Vaccine research

A COVID‑19 vaccine is a vaccine intended to provide acquired immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‑19).

The COVID‑19 vaccines are widely credited for their role in reducing the spread of COVID‑19 and reducing the severity and death caused by COVID‑19. According to a June 2022 study, COVID‑19 vaccines prevented an additional 14.4 to 19.8 million deaths in 185 countries and territories from 8 December 2020 to 8 December 2021. Many countries implemented phased distribution plans that prioritized those at highest risk of complications, such as the elderly, and those at high risk of exposure and transmission, such as healthcare workers. (Full article)

Drug research

COVID-19 drug development is the research process to develop preventative therapeutic prescription drugs that would alleviate the severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). From early 2020 through 2021, several hundred drug companies, biotechnology firms, university research groups, and health organizations were developing therapeutic candidates for COVID-19 disease in various stages of preclinical or clinical research (506 total candidates in April 2021), with 419 potential COVID-19 drugs in clinical trials, as of April 2021. (Full article)

Images

Scanning electron microscope image of SARS-CoV-2 (centre, yellow)
This image reveals ultra-structural morphology exhibited by the virus
SARS-CoV-2 structure

(More images)

Topics

Get involved!

Get involved by joining WikiProject COVID-19. We discuss collaborations and all manner of issues on our talk page. As of 30 March 2023, there are 2,429 articles within the project's scope. A full list is available here.

Related portals

References

^ ^a ^b Ritchie, Hannah; Mathieu, Edouard; Rodés-Guirao, Lucas; Appel, Cameron; Giattino, Charlie; Ortiz-Ospina, Esteban; Hasell, Joe; Macdonald, Bobbie; Beltekian, Diana; Dattani, Saloni; Roser, Max (2020–2022). "Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19)". Our World in Data. Retrieved 2023-03-29.