COVID-19 pandemic

COVID‑19 pandemic
Confirmed deaths per 1,000,000 population as of 9 February 2021
Cases per capita Confirmed cases per 100,000 population as of 24 February 2021   >10,000   3,000–10,000   1,000–3,000   300–1,000   100–300   30–100   0–30   None or no data
Daily new cases Daily new cases as of 7 December 2020 (7 day rolling average)
Clockwise from top: Nurse treating a COVID‑19 patient in an intensive care unit aboard USNS Comfort, a U.S. hospital ship People queuing for masks in Hong Kong Donated medical supplies received in the Philippines Burial in Iran Italian government task force
Disease	Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‑19)
Virus strain	Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2)[a]
Source	Likely via bats[1][2]
Location	Worldwide
First outbreak	Wuhan, China[3]
Index case	Wuhan, Hubei, China 30°37′11″N 114°15′28″E / 30.61972°N 114.25778°E / 30.61972; 114.25778
Date	December 2019 (2019-12)[3] – present (1 year, 2 months, 3 weeks and 5 days)
Confirmed cases	113,375,335[4]
Suspected cases‡	Possibly 10% of the global population, or 780 million people (WHO estimate as of early October 2020)[5]
Deaths	2,515,896[4]
Territories	192[4]
‡Suspected cases have not been confirmed by laboratory tests as being due to this strain, although some other strains may have been ruled out.

The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). It was first identified in December 2019 in Wuhan, China. The World Health Organization declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern in January 2020 and a pandemic in March 2020. As of 27 February 2021, more than 113 million cases have been confirmed, with more than 2.51 million deaths attributed to COVID-19, making it one of the deadliest pandemics in history.

Symptoms of COVID-19 are highly variable, ranging from none to life-threatening illness. The virus spreads mainly through the air when people are near each other.^[b] It leaves an infected person as they breathe, cough, sneeze, or speak and enters another person via their mouth, nose, or eyes. It may also spread via contaminated surfaces. People remain infectious for up to two weeks, and can spread the virus even if they do not show symptoms.^[9][10]

Recommended preventive measures include social distancing, wearing face masks in public, ventilation and air-filtering, hand washing, covering one's mouth when sneezing or coughing, disinfecting surfaces, and monitoring and self-isolation for people exposed or symptomatic. Several vaccines are being developed and distributed. Current treatments focus on addressing symptoms while work is underway to develop therapeutic drugs that inhibit the virus. Authorities worldwide have responded by implementing travel restrictions, lockdowns, workplace hazard controls, and facility closures. Many places have also worked to increase testing capacity and trace contacts of the infected.^[10]

The responses to the pandemic have resulted in significant global social and economic disruption, including the largest global recession since the Great Depression.^[11] It has led to the postponement or cancellation of events, widespread supply shortages exacerbated by panic buying, agricultural disruption and food shortages, and decreased emissions of pollutants and greenhouse gases. Many educational institutions and public areas have been partially or fully closed. Misinformation has circulated through social media and mass media. The pandemic has raised issues of racial and geographic discrimination, health equity, and the balance between public health imperatives and individual rights.

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