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Review
. 2021 Feb;97(1144):110-116.
doi: 10.1136/postgradmedj-2020-138386. Epub 2020 Aug 11.

SARS-CoV-2 and the pandemic of COVID-19

Md Tanveer Adil  1 , Rumana Rahman  2 , Douglas Whitelaw  3 , Vigyan Jain  3 , Omer Al-Taan  3 , Farhan Rashid  3 , Aruna Munasinghe  3 , Periyathambi Jambulingam  3
Affiliations
Review

SARS-CoV-2 and the pandemic of COVID-19

Md Tanveer Adil et al. Postgrad Med J. 2021 Feb.

Abstract

SARS-CoV-2 is a virus that is the cause of a serious life-threatening disease known as COVID-19. It was first noted to have occurred in Wuhan, China in November 2019 and the WHO reported the first case on December 31, 2019. The outbreak was declared a global pandemic on March 11, 2020 and by May 30, 2020, a total of 5 899 866 positive cases were registered including 364 891 deaths. SARS-CoV-2 primarily targets the lung and enters the body through ACE2 receptors. Typical symptoms of COVID-19 include fever, cough, shortness of breath and fatigue, yet some atypical symptoms like loss of smell and taste have also been described. 20% require hospital admission due to severe disease, a third of whom need intensive support. Treatment is primarily supportive, however, prognosis is dismal in those who need invasive ventilation. Trials are ongoing to discover effective vaccines and drugs to combat the disease. Preventive strategies aim at reducing the transmission of disease by contact tracing, washing of hands, use of face masks and government-led lockdown of unnecessary activities to reduce the risk of transmission.

Keywords: COVID-19; Coronavirus; SARS-CoV-2; global health; viral infections.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Total number of new cases at the beginning of the pandemic (January 31, 2020) and at the peak and beyond (May 30, 2020) due to COVID-19 shown in the 10 most effected countries.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Total confirmed new cases (A) and daily new confirmed cases (B) due to COVID-19 from the beginning of the pandemic until May 30, 2020 in different countries. Some data points are interpolated to account for missing values. Sources: Local governments; The Centre for Systems Science and Engineering at John Hopkins University; National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China; World Health Organization.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Total confirmed new deaths (A) and daily new confirmed deaths (B) due to COVID-19 from the beginning of the pandemic until May 30, 2020 in different countries. Some data points are interpolated to account for missing values. Sources: Local governments; The Centre for Systems Science and Engineering at John Hopkins University; National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China; World Health Organization.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Common, uncommon and severe symptoms due to COVID-19.18
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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