Coronavirus (COVID-19): An Overview
Coronavirus Disease
2019 (COVID-19) initially
originated in the city of Wuhan, Central China, and
subsequently spread throughout the world. From new strict handwashing regimens
to cancelled events, from online grocery shopping to having to work from home,
this quarantine period is without a doubt affecting everyone’s daily routines
in some form or the other.
It is caused
by a coronavirus, Severe
Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). It belongs to a part
of the coronavirus family Coronaviridae,
consisting of a group of related viruses that cause diseases in mammals and
birds, and shares about 80% of genetic similarity with the coronavirus that was
responsible for the SARS outbreak in 2002-2003 and the MERS
outbreak in 2012.
To date, the
virus has caused a high rate of mortality, posing a serious threat
to public health. Although there are no available clinically approved and
commercially available vaccines or specific therapeutic drugs for Covid-19,
exhaustive research is being conducted to develop effectual prevention and
treatment strategies.
Currently,
there are 88,603,204 confirmed cases of novel coronavirus
infection worldwide, with a total death tally of 1,908,749,
affecting 227 countries and territories across the globe. The
top three countries affected by Covid-19 infection are the USA (22,137,009 cases), followed
by India with 10,414,044 cases, and Brazil at number 3rd
position with a total of 7,961,673 cases.
In India, 226,040 are active
cases while 10,037,398 cases
have recovered or been discharged.
Currently, 35 states have reported confirmed cases of
Covid-19, with Maharashtra topping
the list (19,58,282 confirmed cases), followed closely by Karnataka (9,24,898 cases).
It is important to note that out of currently infected patients, 80% of patients are in mild condition while the rest are in serious or critical condition. More than 99% of the cases are now outside China, where it all started initially. Surprisingly, China seems to have controlled the infection.