Portal:COVID-19

 Showcase New related articles 

The COVID-19 portal

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.

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, 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 transmission. 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.

The pandemic 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 disruption and panic buying. The resultant near-global lockdowns saw an unprecedented pollution decrease. Educational institutions and public areas were partially or fully closed in many jurisdictions, and many events were cancelled or postponed. Misinformation circulated through social media and mass media, and political tensions intensified. The pandemic 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. 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 3 March 2022, 440,169,945 cases of COVID-19 have been reported, resulting in 5,972,601 reported deaths.

---

[expand]

[collapse]

Updated March 3, 2022.

COVID-19 pandemic by location

	Location	Cases	Deaths
	World	440,169,945	5,972,601
	European Union	109,508,253	1,014,732
	United States	79,143,716	954,518
	India	42,945,160	514,388
	Brazil	28,846,495	650,254
	France	22,893,017	138,831
	United Kingdom	19,081,606	161,848
	Russia	16,353,868	346,197
	Germany	15,174,376	123,311
	Turkey	14,206,121	94,837
	Italy	12,867,918	155,214
	Spain	11,054,888	100,037
	Argentina	8,912,317	126,390
	Iran	7,066,975	137,267
	Netherlands	6,540,294	21,687
	Colombia	6,067,023	138,899
	Poland	5,694,767	111,864
	Indonesia	5,630,096	149,036
	Mexico	5,521,744	318,531
	Japan	5,143,818	24,140
	Ukraine	5,040,518	112,459
	Vietnam	3,709,481	40,452
	South Korea	3,691,488	8,394
	South Africa	3,677,686	99,458
	Philippines	3,663,920	56,504
	Israel	3,651,224	10,237
	Czech Republic	3,599,534	38,741
	Belgium	3,563,841	30,199
	Peru	3,518,721	210,744
	Malaysia	3,496,090	32,942
	Canada	3,303,284	36,726
	Australia	3,296,784	5,316
	Portugal	3,282,457	21,111
	Chile	3,098,110	42,411
	Thailand	2,958,162	23,070
	Switzerland	2,842,412	13,119
	Denmark	2,803,857	4,687
	Romania	2,748,777	63,668
	Austria	2,744,023	14,888
	Greece	2,454,429	25,972
	Sweden	2,451,464	17,355
	Iraq	2,305,083	25,013
	Slovakia	2,150,666	18,567
	Bangladesh	1,945,108	29,053
	Serbia	1,916,707	15,315
	Hungary	1,793,120	44,134
	Jordan	1,638,228	13,849
	Georgia	1,616,159	16,231
	Pakistan	1,511,754	30,237
	Kazakhstan	1,391,277	18,958
	Republic of Ireland	1,307,062	6,521
	Norway	1,279,169	1,664
	Morocco	1,161,290	16,002
	Bulgaria	1,096,194	35,696
	Lebanon	1,072,537	10,115
	Cuba	1,070,730	8,496
	Croatia	1,058,453	15,122
	Tunisia	999,441	27,824
	Nepal	977,199	11,941
	Belarus	923,432	6,506
	Lithuania	913,223	8,418
	Mongolia	909,379	2,171
	Slovenia	897,040	6,327
	Bolivia	893,775	21,443
	United Arab Emirates	880,970	2,301
	Uruguay	846,868	7,005
	Ecuador	833,291	35,249
	Costa Rica	811,040	8,057
	Azerbaijan	787,367	9,454
	Guatemala	784,024	17,018
	Singapore	767,663	1,040
	Panama	756,085	8,098
	Saudi Arabia	746,066	9,002
	Latvia	673,218	5,284
	Finland	658,559	2,381
	Palestine	648,039	5,532
	Sri Lanka	647,699	16,267
	Paraguay	642,573	18,422
	Kuwait	620,980	2,540
	Myanmar	592,139	19,375
	Dominican Republic	575,157	4,370
	Bahrain	519,584	1,455
	Venezuela	515,582	5,639
	Estonia	504,148	2,259
	Moldova	502,956	11,242
	Libya	495,972	6,276
	Egypt	486,381	24,132
	Ethiopia	468,786	7,467
	Armenia	420,498	8,493
	Honduras	412,733	10,778
	Oman	383,389	4,246
	Bosnia and Herzegovina	371,553	15,484
	Qatar	357,583	670
	Cyprus	326,611	859
	Kenya	323,002	5,640
	Zambia	313,203	3,955
	North Macedonia	298,195	9,036
	Hong Kong	293,730	1,168
	Albania	271,825	3,474
	Algeria	265,079	6,843
	Botswana	263,950	2,619
	Nigeria	254,598	3,142
	Zimbabwe	237,503	5,396
	Uzbekistan	236,596	1,637
	Montenegro	230,512	2,682
	Kosovo	226,392	3,116
	Mozambique	225,080	2,193
	Kyrgyzstan	200,556	2,960
	Luxembourg	184,862	993
	Afghanistan	174,073	7,617
	Maldives	171,114	297
	New Zealand	166,098	56
	Uganda	163,342	3,588
	Ghana	159,891	1,442
	Namibia	157,275	4,009
	El Salvador	156,364	4,077
	Laos	143,240	623
	Iceland	135,747	65
	Cambodia	131,004	3,032
	Rwanda	129,533	1,457
	Trinidad and Tobago	128,691	3,637
	Jamaica	128,079	2,814
	Cameroon	119,240	1,923
	China	109,964	4,636
	Angola	98,746	1,900
	Democratic Republic of the Congo	86,039	1,335
	Senegal	85,712	1,960
	Malawi	85,362	2,617
	Ivory Coast	81,518	794
	Suriname	78,353	1,317
	Brunei	71,649	129
	Malta	71,455	606
	Mauritius	70,862	786
	Eswatini	69,211	1,390
	French Polynesia	67,651	641
	Fiji	63,999	834
	Madagascar	63,659	1,366
	Guyana	62,971	1,222
	Sudan	61,512	3,910
	Mauritania	58,638	979
	Belize	56,816	650
	Cabo Verde	55,889	401
	Barbados	55,543	316
	New Caledonia	55,502	301
	Syria	54,744	3,082
	Gabon	47,543	303
	Papua New Guinea	41,335	638
	Seychelles	39,403	163
	Curaçao	39,016	261
	Andorra	38,249	151
	Burundi	38,127	38
	Togo	36,808	272
	Guinea	36,397	440
	Faroe Islands	34,658	28
	Aruba	33,684	211
	Tanzania	33,620	798
	Bahamas	33,150	771
	Lesotho	32,612	696
	Mali	30,391	722
	Haiti	30,350	820
	Benin	26,567	163
	Somalia	26,351	1,348
	Republic of the Congo	24,020	378
	Isle of Man	23,099	80
	Timor-Leste	22,732	129
	Saint Lucia	22,729	360
	Burkina Faso	20,751	375
	Taiwan	20,582	853
	Cayman Islands	19,373	17
	Nicaragua	18,105	225
	Tajikistan	17,786	125
	South Sudan	16,989	137
	Equatorial Guinea	15,885	183
	Gibraltar	15,622	101
	Djibouti	15,547	189
	San Marino	14,435	112
	Central African Republic	14,225	113
	Grenada	13,690	216
	Bhutan	13,535	6
	Liechtenstein	12,161	78
	Gambia	11,939	365
	Yemen	11,771	2,135
	Greenland	11,759	19
	Bermuda	11,561	123
	Dominica	11,108	57
	Eritrea	9,705	103
	Monaco	9,445	51
	Niger	8,759	307
	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	8,311	106
	Comoros	8,033	160
	Guinea-Bissau	8,027	167
	Sierra Leone	7,665	125
	Caribbean Netherlands	7,599	31
	Antigua and Barbuda	7,449	135
	Liberia	7,384	294
	Solomon Islands	7,258	106
	Chad	7,257	190
	British Virgin Islands	6,085	62
	Sao Tome and Principe	5,934	72
	Turks and Caicos Islands	5,867	36
	Saint Kitts and Nevis	5,530	42
	Palau	3,823	6
	Kiribati	2,953	11
	Anguilla	2,555	9
	Saint Pierre and Miquelon	1,087	1
	Wallis and Futuna	454	7
	Tonga	355	1
	Montserrat	164	2
	Falkland Islands	113	—
	Macau	82	—
	Samoa	33	—
	Vatican City	29	0
	Vanuatu	19	1
	Marshall Islands	7	—
	Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha	4	—
	Cook Islands	2	—
	Federated States of Micronesia	1	0

(Full article)

About the symptoms

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 (anosmia) and taste (ageusia), 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. (Full article)

About the spread

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

The number of people generally infected by one infected person varies; as only 10 to 20% of people are responsible for the disease's spread. It 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

• 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

3 March 2022 – COVID-19 pandemic

COVID-19 pandemic in France

COVID-19 vaccination in France

French Prime Minister Jean Castex announces that France will lift their requirements for COVID-19 vaccine passports in access venues beginning on March 14. (France 24)

COVID-19 pandemic in Kazakhstan

COVID-19 vaccination in Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan begins its production of the Sputnik Light COVID-19 vaccine. (Kazinform)

Did you know?

• ... that the Association of Black Cardiologists has shared resources on the impact of coronavirus disease on black communities in response to the higher death rates seen among African Americans?
• ... that of the initial cluster of people confirmed to have been infected by a novel coronavirus in China, two-thirds had been directly exposed to the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan?
• ... 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 "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 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?
  (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

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 misinformation and conspiracy theories about the scale of the COVID-19 pandemic and the origin, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of the disease COVID-19, which is caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2. 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. 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 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).

The COVID‑19 vaccines are widely credited for their role in reducing the severity and death caused by COVID‑19. Many countries have implemented phased distribution plans that prioritize 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 4 March 2022, there are 2,252 articles within the project's scope. A full list is available here.

Categories

Select [►] to view subcategories

COVID-19

COVID-19 pandemic templates

Related portals

• 
  Biology
• 
  Current events
• 
  Medicine
• 
  Modern history
• 
  Pandemics
• 
  Science
• 
  Viruses

References

Associated Wikimedia