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The COVID-19 portal

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

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease has since spread worldwide, leading to an ongoing pandemic.

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, covering coughs and sneezes, hand washing, and keeping unwashed hands away from the face. The use of face masks or coverings has been recommended in public settings to minimize the risk of transmissions. While work is underway to develop drugs that inhibit the virus, the primary treatment is symptomatic. Management involves the treatment of symptoms, supportive care, isolation, and experimental measures. (Full article...)

About the virus

This colorized transmission electron microscope image shows SARS-CoV-2—also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus that causes COVID-19—isolated from a patient in the U.S.

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. 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...)

About the symptoms and spread

Symptoms of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)

Symptoms of COVID-19 are variable, ranging from mild symptoms to severe illness. Common symptoms include headache, loss of smell and taste, nasal congestion and runny nose, cough, muscle pain, sore throat, fever, diarrhea, and breathing difficulties. People with the same 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; a cluster of digestive symptoms with abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhea. In people without prior ear, nose, and throat disorders, loss of taste combined with loss of smell is associated with COVID-19 and is reported in as many as 88% of cases

As is common with infections, there is a delay between the moment a person first becomes infected and the appearance of the first symptoms. The median delay for COVID-19 is four to five days. Most symptomatic people experience symptoms within two to seven days after exposure, and almost all will experience at least one symptom within 12 days. (Full article...)

The disease is mainly transmitted via the respiratory route when people inhale droplets and small airborne particles (that form an aerosol) that infected people breath out as they breathe, talk, cough, sneeze, or sing. Infected people are more likely to transmit COVID-19 when they are physically close. However, infection can occur over longer distances, particularly indoors. 2). (Full article...)

Disease progress

Cases
242,987,401

Deaths
4,938,251

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COVID-19 pandemic by location

Location		Cases	Deaths
	World	242,987,401	4,938,251
	United States	45,400,466	735,373
	European Union	39,371,457	788,718
	India	34,159,562	453,708
	Brazil	21,711,843	605,139
	United Kingdom	8,730,787	139,743
	Russia	8,041,581	224,369
	Turkey	7,800,766	68,700
	France	7,215,584	118,373
	Iran	5,844,589	124,928
	Argentina	5,278,910	115,819
	Spain	4,997,732	87,132
	Colombia	4,988,021	126,994
	Italy	4,733,557	131,763
	Germany	4,462,324	95,081
	Indonesia	4,238,594	143,153
	Mexico	3,777,209	285,953
	Poland	2,961,923	76,359
	South Africa	2,918,883	88,891
	Ukraine	2,852,109	67,087
	Philippines	2,745,889	41,520
	Malaysia	2,420,222	28,312
	Peru	2,194,132	200,003
	Netherlands	2,110,236	18,727
	Iraq	2,043,963	22,901
	Thailand	1,831,389	18,625
	Czechia	1,722,446	30,593
	Japan	1,717,177	18,194
	Canada	1,704,019	28,782
	Chile	1,678,023	37,651
	Bangladesh	1,567,139	27,805
	Romania	1,534,942	43,844
	Israel	1,321,894	8,039
	Belgium	1,312,360	25,846
	Pakistan	1,267,945	28,359
	Sweden	1,165,996	14,993
	Serbia	1,085,728	9,388
	Portugal	1,083,651	18,125
	Kazakhstan	1,005,130	16,871
	Morocco	943,652	14,600
	Cuba	943,038	8,153
	Vietnam	881,522	21,543
	Switzerland	862,411	11,182
	Jordan	849,000	10,930
	Hungary	843,825	30,492
	Nepal	808,096	11,337
	Austria	791,226	11,233
	United Arab Emirates	739,106	2,128
	Tunisia	711,397	25,132
	Greece	711,128	15,555
	Georgia	684,337	9,657
	Lebanon	636,685	8,445
	Guatemala	593,459	14,615
	Belarus	582,111	4,482
	Bulgaria	564,719	22,975
	Costa Rica	555,970	6,946
	Saudi Arabia	548,162	8,774
	Sri Lanka	534,975	13,574
	Ecuador	514,087	32,937
	Azerbaijan	511,974	6,847
	Bolivia	509,276	18,896
	Myanmar	492,509	18,491
	Panama	471,253	7,306
	Paraguay	460,679	16,229
	Palestine	450,310	4,611
	Slovakia	449,775	12,886
	Croatia	439,447	8,985
	Republic of Ireland	425,725	5,369
	Kuwait	412,481	2,460
	Venezuela	397,370	4,775
	Uruguay	391,890	6,070
	Lithuania	382,454	5,571
	Denmark	375,982	2,698
	Dominican Republic	374,722	4,100
	Honduras	373,704	10,172
	Ethiopia	361,647	6,333
	Libya	352,881	4,982
	South Korea	350,476	2,745
	Mongolia	348,188	1,643
	Moldova	325,526	7,424
	Egypt	322,852	18,195
	Slovenia	316,138	4,669
	Oman	304,116	4,107
	Armenia	291,052	5,944
	Bahrain	276,461	1,393
	Kenya	252,499	5,249
	Bosnia and Herzegovina	247,958	11,322
	Qatar	238,359	608
	Nigeria	210,136	2,855
	Zambia	209,610	3,658
	Algeria	205,683	5,883
	Norway	199,550	894
	North Macedonia	199,057	7,019
	Latvia	197,389	2,992
	Botswana	184,919	2,396
	Uzbekistan	182,819	1,300
	Albania	180,623	2,863
	Kyrgyzstan	180,348	2,647
	Estonia	178,610	1,449
	Singapore	165,663	294
	Kosovo	160,606	2,974
	Australia	156,401	1,622
	Afghanistan	155,931	7,252
	Finland	153,156	1,139
	Mozambique	151,195	1,927
	Montenegro	139,963	2,057
	Zimbabwe	132,588	4,663
	Ghana	129,592	1,169
	Namibia	128,444	3,545
	Uganda	125,537	3,194
	Cyprus	122,996	568
	Cambodia	117,500	2,715
	El Salvador	112,290	3,544
	Cameroon	100,289	1,600
	Rwanda	99,325	1,318
	China	96,792	4,636
	Jamaica	87,970	2,153
	Maldives	86,605	240
	Luxembourg	80,603	842
	Senegal	73,880	1,876
	Angola	63,691	1,693
	Malawi	61,747	2,296
	Ivory Coast	61,152	689
	Democratic Republic of the Congo	57,432	1,091
	Trinidad and Tobago	55,203	1,633
	Fiji	51,977	673
	Suriname	47,875	1,054
	Eswatini	46,383	1,239
	Madagascar	43,622	960
	Syria	40,922	2,478
	Sudan	40,084	3,038
	Cabo Verde	38,098	347
	Malta	37,533	459
	Mauritania	36,866	791
	Guyana	34,877	893
	Gabon	34,601	224
	Laos	34,518	49
	Guinea	30,626	385
	Papua New Guinea	26,731	329
	Tanzania	26,034	724
	Togo	25,967	240
	Belize	25,445	473
	Benin	24,560	161
	Haiti	23,406	658
	Bahamas	22,179	642
	Seychelles	22,102	119
	Lesotho	21,575	656
	Somalia	21,269	1,180
	Burundi	19,894	38
	Timor-Leste	19,759	120
	Tajikistan	17,486	125
	Mauritius	17,047	148
	Republic of the Congo	16,408	239
	Taiwan	16,357	846
	Nicaragua	16,241	207
	Mali	15,776	558
	Andorra	15,404	130
	Burkina Faso	14,793	214
	Barbados	14,753	126
	Djibouti	13,436	181
	Equatorial Guinea	13,097	163
	Iceland	12,899	33
	Saint Lucia	12,385	239
	Hong Kong	12,313	213
	South Sudan	12,279	133
	Brunei	11,672	79
	Central African Republic	11,518	100
	Gambia	9,956	339
	Yemen	9,650	1,835
	Eritrea	6,788	45
	Sierra Leone	6,397	121
	Niger	6,236	206
	Guinea-Bissau	6,131	141
	Liberia	5,811	287
	Grenada	5,809	196
	New Zealand	5,555	28
	San Marino	5,497	91
	Chad	5,069	174
	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	4,814	60
	Dominica	4,508	30
	Comoros	4,200	147
	Antigua and Barbuda	3,994	97
	Sao Tome and Principe	3,691	56
	Liechtenstein	3,623	60
	Monaco	3,388	35
	Saint Kitts and Nevis	2,619	21
	Bhutan	2,617	3
	Vatican City	27	0
	Solomon Islands	20	—
	Palau	8	0
	Vanuatu	4	1
	Marshall Islands	4	—
	Samoa	3	—
	Kiribati	2	—
	Federated States of Micronesia	1	0

(Full article...)

National responses

Due to the pandemic in Europe, many countries in the Schengen Area have restricted free movement and set up border controls. National reactions have included containment measures such as quarantines and curfews (known as stay-at-home orders, shelter-in-place orders, or lockdowns). The WHO's recommendation on curfews and lockdowns is that they should be short-term measures to reorganise, regroup, rebalance resources, and protect health workers who are exhausted. To achieve a balance between restrictions and normal life, the long-term responses to the pandemic should consist of strict personal hygiene, effective contact tracing, and isolating when ill.

(Full article...)

Videos

• Play media

  Animation describing the structure of a coronavirus

• Play media

  Video about what SARS-CoV-2 does to the human body

• Play media

  Video about the transmission of coronaviruses

(More videos...)

Recent news

23 October 2021 – COVID-19 pandemic

COVID-19 pandemic in Namibia

Namibia suspends the usage of the Russian made Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine amid reports from South Africa that the vaccine carries a risk of causing HIV infections in men. (WION)

COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand

The South Island reports its first community case of COVID-19 since November 2020 in a man who travelled from Rotorua to Blenheim on October 21. (Stuff)

COVID-19 pandemic in Russia

Russia reports a record for the fifth consecutive day of 1,075 deaths from COVID-19, thereby bringing the nationwide death toll to 229,528. The country also reports a record for the third consecutive day of 37,678 new cases of COVID-19, thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 8.2 million. (ANI News)

Did you know?

• ... that "Catch It, Bin It, Kill It" (poster shown), a slogan first used in 2007, has been revived to fight the 2020 coronavirus pandemic in the United Kingdom?
• ... that a fire training academy in the state of Washington has been designated as a quarantine site during the current coronavirus outbreak?
• ... that Karan Johar launched the pop song "Genda Phool" on social media during India's coronavirus lockdown?
• ... 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 a vote of no confidence was successfully brought against the Kurti cabinet following a cabinet minister's dismissal over disagreements on how to manage the coronavirus pandemic in Kosovo?
• ... that professor Neil Ferguson and his team believe that significantly more people in China have been infected with the 2019 novel coronavirus than has been reported?
  (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 beyond the spread of the disease itself and efforts to quarantine it. As the SARS-CoV-2 virus has spread around the globe, concerns have shifted from supply-side manufacturing issues to decreased business in the services sector. The pandemic caused the 2nd largest global recession in history, with more than a third of the global population at the time being placed on lockdown.

Global stock markets fell on 24 February 2020 due to a significant rise in the number of COVID-19 cases outside mainland China. By 28 February 2020, stock markets worldwide realized their largest single-week declines since the financial crisis of 2007–2008. This culminated in the 2020 stock market crash. (Full article...)

Workplace

The hierarchy of hazard controls contains methods for controlling exposures to hazards. Methods listed towards the top potentially more effective than those at the bottom at reducing the risk of illness or injury.

Hazard controls for COVID-19 in workplaces are the application of occupational safety and health methodologies for hazard controls to the prevention of coronavirus disease 2019 (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 telework and flexible schedules, increased ventilation, personal protective equipment (PPE) and face coverings, physical distancing, and enhanced cleaning programs. (Full article...)

Misinformation

COVID-19 misinformation refers to any kind of subject about the COVID-19 pandemic that has resulted in misinformation and conspiracy theories about the scale of the pandemic and the origin, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of the disease. False information, including intentional disinformation, has been spread through social media, text messaging, and mass media. False information has been propagated by celebrities, politicians, and other prominent public figures. Multiple 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 branches detect either the presence of the virus or of 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). Prior to the COVID‑19 pandemic, an established body of knowledge existed about the structure and function of coronaviruses causing diseases like severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). This knowledge accelerated the development of various vaccine platforms during early 2020. The initial focus of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines was on preventing symptomatic, often severe illness. On 10 January 2020, the SARS-CoV-2 genetic sequence data was shared through GISAID, and by 19 March, the global pharmaceutical industry announced a major commitment to address COVID-19. The COVID‑19 vaccines are widely credited for their role in reducing the spread, severity, and death caused by COVID-19. (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...)

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