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 5 March 2023, 675,860,714 cases of COVID-19 have been reported, resulting in 6,876,859 reported deaths.^[1]

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Updated March 5, 2023.

COVID-19 pandemic by location^[1]
	Location	Cases	Deaths
	World^[a]	675,860,714	6,876,859
	European Union^[b]	184,044,642	1,215,001
	United States	103,645,674	1,122,164
	India	44,689,046	530,775
	France	39,674,247	165,099
	Germany	38,210,850	168,397
	Brazil	37,081,209	699,276
	Japan	33,273,639	72,729
	South Korea	30,555,102	34,020
	Italy	25,603,510	188,322
	United Kingdom	24,396,534	219,449
	Russia	22,016,406	388,278
	Turkey	17,042,722	101,492
	Spain	13,770,429	119,479
	Vietnam	11,526,962	43,186
	Australia	11,385,534	19,459
	Argentina	10,044,125	130,463
	Taiwan	9,970,937	17,672
	Netherlands	8,609,063	23,081
	Iran	7,569,769	144,878
	Mexico	7,470,128	333,096
	Indonesia	6,736,994	160,928
	Poland	6,431,888	118,952
	Colombia	6,358,232	142,329
	Austria	5,936,666	21,921
	Ukraine	5,701,602	119,212
	Portugal	5,568,084	26,180
	Greece	5,548,487	34,779
	Chile	5,177,770	64,222
	Malaysia	5,043,626	36,965
	Israel	4,801,221	12,303
	Thailand	4,728,035	33,911
	Belgium	4,727,795	33,775
	Czech Republic	4,613,882	42,464
	Canada	4,609,458	51,555
	Peru	4,486,665	219,485
	Switzerland	4,412,439	14,207
	Philippines	4,076,866	66,143
	South Africa	4,064,889	102,595
	Denmark	3,403,707	8,274
	Romania	3,340,342	67,704
	Hong Kong	2,876,106	13,464
	Sweden	2,698,535	23,731
	Slovakia	2,666,342	21,030
	Serbia	2,495,808	17,847
	Iraq	2,465,545	25,375
	Singapore	2,230,868	1,722
	New Zealand	2,217,642	2,542
	Hungary	2,195,926	48,751
	Bangladesh	2,037,829	29,445
	China^[c]	2,023,904	87,468
	Georgia	1,825,598	16,965
	Jordan	1,746,997	14,122
	Republic of Ireland	1,703,850	8,691
	Pakistan	1,577,072	30,643
	Kazakhstan	1,498,668	19,069
	Norway	1,479,235	5,213
	Finland	1,462,976	8,936
	Slovenia	1,329,775	7,074
	Lithuania	1,306,273	9,590
	Bulgaria	1,297,037	38,219
	Morocco	1,272,486	16,296
	Croatia	1,268,992	17,971
	Guatemala	1,237,550	20,178
	Lebanon	1,232,301	10,835
	Costa Rica	1,204,164	9,230
	Bolivia	1,193,815	22,365
	Tunisia	1,150,962	29,331
	Cuba	1,112,622	8,530
	Ecuador	1,057,121	36,014
	United Arab Emirates	1,052,519	2,349
	Uruguay	1,034,303	7,617
	Panama	1,031,273	8,604
	Mongolia	1,007,897	2,136
	Nepal	1,001,149	12,020
	Belarus	994,037	7,118
	Latvia	976,095	6,265
	Saudi Arabia	829,730	9,617
	Azerbaijan	828,682	10,127
	Paraguay	808,401	19,878
	Bahrain	708,768	1,552
	Palestine	703,228	5,708
	Sri Lanka	672,032	16,830
	Kuwait	663,456	2,570
	Dominican Republic	660,705	4,384
	Cyprus	650,685	1,330
	Myanmar	633,945	19,490
	Estonia	615,128	2,940
	Moldova	607,450	11,988
	Venezuela	552,051	5,854
	Egypt	515,698	24,809
	Libya	507,174	6,437
	Ethiopia	500,039	7,572
	Qatar	494,377	686
	Honduras	472,219	11,111
	Armenia	446,819	8,721
	Bosnia and Herzegovina	401,636	16,279
	Oman	399,449	4,628
	North Macedonia	346,852	9,662
	Zambia	343,079	4,057
	Kenya	342,919	5,688
	Albania	334,427	3,598
	Botswana	329,727	2,801
	Luxembourg	316,601	1,219
	Mauritius	295,440	1,044
	Montenegro	288,552	2,805
	Brunei	278,698	225
	Kosovo	273,202	3,211
	Algeria	271,469	6,881
	Nigeria	266,598	3,155
	Zimbabwe	264,127	5,668
	Uzbekistan	251,071	1,637
	Mozambique	233,098	2,242
	Laos	218,020	758
	Afghanistan	209,369	7,896
	Iceland	209,093	263
	Kyrgyzstan	206,673	2,991
	El Salvador	201,785	4,230
	Trinidad and Tobago	189,296	4,347
	Maldives	185,732	311
	Ghana	171,172	1,462
	Namibia	171,156	4,090
	Uganda	170,504	3,630
	Jamaica	154,196	3,502
	Cambodia	138,719	3,056
	Rwanda	133,180	1,468
	Cameroon	124,392	1,965
	Malta	117,477	827
	Barbados	106,645	575
	Angola	105,277	1,933
	Democratic Republic of the Congo	95,749	1,464
	Senegal	88,921	1,971
	Malawi	88,702	2,686
	Ivory Coast	88,240	834
	Suriname	82,467	1,404
	New Caledonia	80,007	314
	French Polynesia	77,957	649
	Eswatini	74,199	1,423
	Guyana	73,075	1,298
	Belize	70,757	688
	Fiji	68,897	883
	Madagascar	67,865	1,422
	Sudan	63,809	5,013
	Mauritania	63,668	997
	Cabo Verde	63,244	413
	Bhutan	62,620	21
	Syria	57,467	3,164
	Burundi	53,631	38
	Seychelles	50,665	172
	Gabon	48,981	306
	Andorra	47,875	165
	Papua New Guinea	46,809	670
	Curaçao	45,986	301
	Aruba	44,044	282
	Tanzania	42,846	846
	Togo	39,390	290
	Guinea	38,267	467
	Isle of Man	38,008	116
	Bahamas	37,491	833
	Lesotho	34,790	723
	Faroe Islands	34,658	28
	Haiti	34,202	860
	Mali	33,051	743
	Cayman Islands	31,472	37
	Saint Lucia	30,004	409
	Benin	27,990	163
	Somalia	27,324	1,361
	Republic of the Congo	25,077	388
	Solomon Islands	24,575	153
	Federated States of Micronesia	23,948	61
	San Marino	23,583	122
	Timor-Leste	23,418	138
	Burkina Faso	22,056	396
	Liechtenstein	21,426	89
	Gibraltar	20,433	111
	Grenada	19,680	238
	Bermuda	18,814	160
	South Sudan	18,368	138
	Tajikistan	17,786	125
	Equatorial Guinea	17,229	183
	Tonga	16,807	13
	Samoa	16,607	29
	Monaco	16,115	67
	Dominica	15,760	74
	Djibouti	15,690	189
	Nicaragua	15,638	245
	Marshall Islands	15,618	17
	Central African Republic	15,368	113
	Gambia	12,586	372
	Vanuatu	12,014	14
	Greenland	11,971	21
	Yemen	11,945	2,159
	Caribbean Netherlands	11,804	41
	Eritrea	10,189	103
	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	9,589	123
	Niger	9,508	315
	Antigua and Barbuda	9,106	146
	Comoros	9,001	161
	Guinea-Bissau	8,960	176
	Liberia	8,090	295
	Sierra Leone	7,760	126
	Chad	7,678	194
	British Virgin Islands	7,305	64
	Cook Islands	7,030	2
	Saint Kitts and Nevis	6,597	47
	Turks and Caicos Islands	6,551	38
	Sao Tome and Principe	6,281	77
	Palau	5,989	9
	Nauru	5,247	1
	Kiribati	5,013	18
	Anguilla	3,904	12
	Macau	3,514	121
	Saint Pierre and Miquelon	3,452	2
	Wallis and Futuna	3,427	7
	Tuvalu	2,805	—
	Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha	2,166	—
	Falkland Islands	1,930	—
	Montserrat	1,403	8
	Vatican City	29	0
	North Korea	1	6
	Turkmenistan	0	0
	Tokelau	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

16 February 2023 –: A Da Nang court sentences four South Korean men to imprisonment for smuggling around 200 South Koreans into Vietnam during the COVID-19 pandemic when the country suspended the entry of all foreigners from 2020 to 2021. (AFP via Al Arabiya)
10 February 2023 –: Toronto mayor John Tory announces he will be resigning following revelations he had an extramarital affair with a staffer during the COVID-19 pandemic. (CBC)
9 February 2023 – Travel during the COVID-19 pandemic: COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea; South Korea resumes the issuance of short-term travel visas to Chinese citizens following a one-month suspension due to China's COVID-19 surge. (AFP via The Business Times)

Did you know?

... that Potamophylax coronavirus's range has been described as a battlefield between scientists and hydropower plant management?
... 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?
(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 6 March 2023, there are 2,422 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 2023-03-05.