Portal:COVID-19
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.
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 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 11 March 2022, 453,426,276 cases of COVID-19 have been reported, resulting in 6,029,789 reported deaths.[1]
| Location | Cases | Deaths | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
World[a] | 453,426,276 | 6,029,789 |
|
European Union[b] | 113,920,406 | 1,026,201 |
|
United States | 79,454,920 | 965,464 |
|
India | 42,984,261 | 515,714 |
|
Brazil | 29,259,206 | 654,380 |
|
France | 23,361,648 | 139,949 |
|
United Kingdom | 19,513,717 | 162,770 |
|
Russia | 16,943,915 | 351,776 |
|
Germany | 16,814,429 | 125,276 |
|
Turkey | 14,488,373 | 96,094 |
|
Italy | 13,214,498 | 156,493 |
|
Spain | 11,204,125 | 101,077 |
|
Argentina | 8,961,595 | 127,009 |
|
Iran | 7,113,591 | 138,572 |
|
Netherlands | 7,080,348 | 21,781 |
|
Colombia | 6,074,874 | 139,220 |
|
Indonesia | 5,847,900 | 151,413 |
|
South Korea | 5,822,626 | 9,875 |
|
Poland | 5,788,363 | 113,186 |
|
Japan | 5,610,818 | 25,718 |
|
Mexico | 5,591,871 | 320,607 |
|
Vietnam | 5,260,495 | 41,157 |
|
Ukraine | 5,040,518 | 112,459 |
|
Malaysia | 3,741,986 | 33,567 |
|
Israel | 3,704,109 | 10,358 |
|
South Africa | 3,690,291 | 99,681 |
|
Philippines | 3,668,940 | 57,258 |
|
Czech Republic | 3,662,117 | 39,068 |
|
Belgium | 3,629,671 | 30,380 |
|
Peru | 3,531,075 | 211,364 |
|
Australia | 3,527,894 | 5,550 |
|
Portugal | 3,380,263 | 21,285 |
|
Canada | 3,361,367 | 37,261 |
|
Chile | 3,249,890 | 43,527 |
|
Thailand | 3,136,649 | 23,575 |
|
Switzerland | 3,040,668 | 13,231 |
|
Austria | 3,022,079 | 15,136 |
|
Denmark | 2,923,030 | 5,049 |
|
Romania | 2,784,651 | 64,226 |
|
Greece | 2,583,366 | 26,424 |
|
Sweden | 2,465,099 | 17,749 |
|
Iraq | 2,311,238 | 25,090 |
|
Slovakia | 2,246,029 | 18,817 |
|
Bangladesh | 1,948,798 | 29,100 |
|
Serbia | 1,934,953 | 15,533 |
|
Hungary | 1,812,294 | 44,603 |
|
Jordan | 1,654,677 | 13,882 |
|
Georgia | 1,631,900 | 16,485 |
|
Pakistan | 1,517,512 | 30,298 |
|
Kazakhstan | 1,392,590 | 18,988 |
|
Norway | 1,341,163 | 1,753 |
|
Republic of Ireland | 1,332,701 | 6,590 |
|
Morocco | 1,161,925 | 16,033 |
|
Bulgaria | 1,109,581 | 36,028 |
|
Lebanon | 1,082,419 | 10,185 |
|
Cuba | 1,075,030 | 8,502 |
|
Croatia | 1,069,317 | 15,294 |
|
Tunisia | 1,018,447 | 28,009 |
|
Nepal | 977,786 | 11,949 |
|
Lithuania | 950,602 | 8,599 |
|
Belarus | 935,684 | 6,618 |
|
Mongolia | 914,536 | 2,177 |
|
Slovenia | 912,193 | 6,388 |
|
Singapore | 901,758 | 1,116 |
|
Bolivia | 896,744 | 21,472 |
|
United Arab Emirates | 884,354 | 2,302 |
|
Uruguay | 860,663 | 7,075 |
|
Ecuador | 843,760 | 35,316 |
|
Costa Rica | 821,813 | 8,149 |
|
Guatemala | 800,403 | 17,127 |
|
Azerbaijan | 790,153 | 9,575 |
|
Panama | 758,923 | 8,128 |
|
Saudi Arabia | 748,311 | 9,014 |
|
Latvia | 726,868 | 5,397 |
|
Finland | 713,103 | 2,573 |
|
Sri Lanka | 654,916 | 16,374 |
|
Palestine | 652,966 | 5,594 |
|
Paraguay | 645,383 | 18,517 |
|
Kuwait | 624,922 | 2,549 |
|
Myanmar | 603,263 | 19,401 |
|
Dominican Republic | 576,220 | 4,372 |
|
Hong Kong | 575,623 | 3,150 |
|
Bahrain | 533,748 | 1,462 |
|
Estonia | 525,748 | 2,327 |
|
Venezuela | 517,720 | 5,655 |
|
Moldova | 506,681 | 11,319 |
|
Libya | 499,465 | 6,326 |
|
Egypt | 494,519 | 24,269 |
|
Ethiopia | 469,134 | 7,484 |
|
Armenia | 421,714 | 8,563 |
|
Honduras | 414,714 | 10,812 |
|
Oman | 386,003 | 4,250 |
|
Bosnia and Herzegovina | 372,962 | 15,610 |
|
Qatar | 358,821 | 672 |
|
Cyprus | 344,856 | 889 |
|
Kenya | 323,140 | 5,644 |
|
Zambia | 314,850 | 3,960 |
|
New Zealand | 307,803 | 81 |
|
North Macedonia | 300,714 | 9,117 |
|
Albania | 272,479 | 3,484 |
|
Algeria | 265,366 | 6,861 |
|
Botswana | 263,950 | 2,619 |
|
Nigeria | 254,861 | 3,142 |
|
Zimbabwe | 241,548 | 5,408 |
|
Uzbekistan | 237,059 | 1,637 |
|
Montenegro | 231,313 | 2,692 |
|
Kosovo | 226,766 | 3,123 |
|
Mozambique | 225,162 | 2,198 |
|
Kyrgyzstan | 200,707 | 2,971 |
|
Luxembourg | 191,006 | 1,004 |
|
Mauritius | 181,362 | 934 |
|
Afghanistan | 175,893 | 7,639 |
|
Maldives | 173,991 | 297 |
|
Uganda | 163,513 | 3,593 |
|
Ghana | 160,681 | 1,445 |
|
Namibia | 157,366 | 4,014 |
|
El Salvador | 156,364 | 4,094 |
|
Iceland | 155,877 | 77 |
|
Laos | 145,094 | 637 |
|
Cambodia | 133,501 | 3,044 |
|
Trinidad and Tobago | 131,840 | 3,673 |
|
Rwanda | 129,576 | 1,459 |
|
Jamaica | 128,273 | 2,837 |
|
Cameroon | 119,322 | 1,926 |
|
China[c] | 112,940 | 4,636 |
|
Brunei | 104,022 | 156 |
|
Angola | 98,855 | 1,900 |
|
Democratic Republic of the Congo | 86,290 | 1,335 |
|
Senegal | 85,782 | 1,962 |
|
Malawi | 85,476 | 2,620 |
|
Ivory Coast | 81,571 | 795 |
|
Suriname | 78,705 | 1,319 |
|
Malta | 72,421 | 613 |
|
French Polynesia | 70,158 | 643 |
|
Eswatini | 69,379 | 1,392 |
|
Fiji | 64,060 | 834 |
|
Madagascar | 63,791 | 1,373 |
|
Guyana | 63,107 | 1,224 |
|
Sudan | 61,643 | 4,865 |
|
New Caledonia | 59,299 | 304 |
|
Mauritania | 58,657 | 981 |
|
Belize | 57,003 | 652 |
|
Barbados | 56,679 | 323 |
|
Cabo Verde | 55,906 | 401 |
|
Syria | 55,243 | 3,107 |
|
Gabon | 47,564 | 303 |
|
Papua New Guinea | 41,533 | 639 |
|
Seychelles | 39,605 | 163 |
|
Curaçao | 39,185 | 264 |
|
Andorra | 38,794 | 152 |
|
Burundi | 38,238 | 38 |
|
Togo | 36,843 | 272 |
|
Guinea | 36,427 | 440 |
|
Faroe Islands | 34,658 | 28 |
|
Aruba | 33,732 | 212 |
|
Tanzania | 33,726 | 800 |
|
Bahamas | 33,188 | 771 |
|
Lesotho | 32,716 | 697 |
|
Haiti | 30,433 | 827 |
|
Mali | 30,407 | 726 |
|
Benin | 26,575 | 163 |
|
Somalia | 26,400 | 1,359 |
|
Isle of Man | 24,169 | 81 |
|
Republic of the Congo | 24,041 | 378 |
|
Saint Lucia | 22,822 | 364 |
|
Timor-Leste | 22,784 | 129 |
|
Taiwan | 21,081 | 853 |
|
Burkina Faso | 20,751 | 375 |
|
Cayman Islands | 19,811 | 18 |
|
Nicaragua | 18,203 | 226 |
|
Tajikistan | 17,786 | 125 |
|
South Sudan | 17,044 | 138 |
|
Bhutan | 16,277 | 7 |
|
Gibraltar | 15,921 | 101 |
|
Equatorial Guinea | 15,894 | 183 |
|
Djibouti | 15,564 | 189 |
|
San Marino | 14,653 | 112 |
|
Central African Republic | 14,320 | 113 |
|
Grenada | 13,690 | 216 |
|
Liechtenstein | 13,590 | 79 |
|
Gambia | 11,963 | 365 |
|
Bermuda | 11,850 | 124 |
|
Greenland | 11,849 | 20 |
|
Yemen | 11,783 | 2,139 |
|
Dominica | 11,502 | 62 |
|
Eritrea | 9,719 | 103 |
|
Monaco | 9,654 | 51 |
|
Niger | 8,774 | 307 |
|
Solomon Islands | 8,491 | 118 |
|
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 8,321 | 106 |
|
Comoros | 8,057 | 160 |
|
Guinea-Bissau | 8,050 | 168 |
|
Sierra Leone | 7,667 | 125 |
|
|
Caribbean Netherlands | 7,633 | 31 |
|
Antigua and Barbuda | 7,461 | 135 |
|
Liberia | 7,392 | 294 |
|
Chad | 7,260 | 190 |
|
British Virgin Islands | 6,091 | 62 |
|
Sao Tome and Principe | 5,939 | 72 |
|
Turks and Caicos Islands | 5,874 | 36 |
|
Saint Kitts and Nevis | 5,538 | 42 |
|
Palau | 3,888 | 6 |
|
Kiribati | 3,010 | 13 |
|
Anguilla | 2,574 | 9 |
|
Tonga | 1,320 | 1 |
|
|
Saint Pierre and Miquelon | 1,256 | 1 |
|
|
Wallis and Futuna | 454 | 7 |
|
Montserrat | 166 | 2 |
|
Falkland Islands | 116 | — |
|
Vanuatu | 102 | 1 |
|
Macau | 82 | — |
|
Samoa | 45 | — |
|
Vatican City | 29 | 0 |
|
Marshall Islands | 7 | — |
|
|
Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha | 4 | — |
|
Cook Islands | 2 | — |
|
Federated States of Micronesia | 1 | 0 |
| |||
About the symptoms
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
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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
Recent news
- 11 March 2022 – 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Two Ukrainian semiconductor-grade neon gas producers, making about half of the world's supply of the product in total, have shut down their operations due to the invasion. This will likely exacerbate semiconductor shortages that started with the COVID-19 pandemic. (Reuters)
- 11 March 2022 – COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in Canada
- COVID-19 pandemic in British Columbia
- The government of British Columbia lifts the provincial mask mandate for most indoor public settings, citing a decreased number of recent hospitalizations and high vaccination rates. Provincial Health Officer Bonnie Henry says masks remain mandatory in healthcare settings and federally-regulated areas such as airports, and local businesses have the discretion of continuing to require masks. The province will also repeal the vaccine card mandate effective April 8. (CBC)
- COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines
- The Filipino FDA announces that the Philippines has approved the use of the Paxlovid COVID-19 pill developed by Pfizer. (The Philippine Star)
Did you know?
- ... that epidemiologist Li Lanjuan was the first to propose a lockdown of Wuhan during the present coronavirus outbreak?
- ... that industry analysts have predicted that up to 75 percent of independent restaurants in the U.S. will not survive the coronavirus pandemic?
- ... that Potamophylax coronavirus's range has been described as a battlefield between scientists and hydropower plant management?
- ... that infectious disease specialist Daniel R. Lucey has hypothesised that the SARS-CoV-2 virus responsible for the 2019–20 coronavirus outbreak may have been quietly circulating among humans since at least November 2019?
- ... 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?
Data maps
Total confirmed cases by reporting area3,000 + per 100,000 inhabitants1,000–3,00 per 100,000 inhabitants300–1,000 per 100,000 inhabitants100–300 per 100,000 inhabitants30–100 per 100,000 inhabitants0–30 per 100,000 inhabitantsNone or no data
Total confirmed deaths by country100+ per 100,000 inhabitants18–100 per 100,000 inhabitants3.3–18 per 100,000 inhabitants0.6–3.3 per 100,000 inhabitants0.1–0.6 per 100,000 inhabitants<0.1 per 100,000 inhabitantsNone or no data
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, the 2021–2022 global supply chain crisis, the 2021–2022 inflation surge, shortages related to the COVID-19 pandemic, 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.
Possible instability generated by an outbreak and associated behavioural changes could result in temporary food shortages, price spikes, and disruption to markets. Such price rises would be felt most by vulnerable populations who depend on markets for their food as well as those already depending on humanitarian assistance to maintain their livelihoods and food access. As observed in the 2007–2008 world food price crisis, the additional inflationary effect of protectionist policies through import tariffs and export bans could cause a significant increase in the number of people facing severe food insecurity worldwide. (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
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
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
.png)
Topics
Get involved!
Get involved by joining WikiProject COVID-19. We discuss collaborations and all manner of issues on our talk page. As of 11 March 2022, there are 2,255 articles within the project's scope. A full list is available here.
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References
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Associated Wikimedia
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Scholia has a profile for SARS-CoV-2 (Q82069695). |