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Review
. 2020 Jul;131(1):93-96.
doi: 10.1213/ANE.0000000000004845.

Coronaviruses and SARS-CoV-2: A Brief Overview

Stephan Ludwig  1 , Alexander Zarbock  2
Affiliations
Review

Coronaviruses and SARS-CoV-2: A Brief Overview

Stephan Ludwig et al. Anesth Analg. 2020 Jul.

Abstract

In late December 2019, several cases of pneumonia of unknown origin were reported from China, which in early January 2020 were announced to be caused by a novel coronavirus. The virus was later denominated severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and defined as the causal agent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Despite massive attempts to contain the disease in China, the virus has spread globally, and COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) in March 2020. Here we provide a short background on coronaviruses, and describe in more detail the novel SARS-CoV-2 and attempts to identify effective therapies against COVID-19.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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