The disease was first found in Wuhan, Hubei, China, in December 2019. On 31 December, Chinese health authorities told the World Health Organization (WHO) about a group of viralpneumonia cases of unknown cause,[8][9] and an investigation was launched in early January 2020.[10] The virus is believed to have come from an animal source, possibly a bat, and it is thought to have been transmitted to humans at a live meat market in Wuhan where live animals were being sold. The virus quickly spread to other parts of the world by airplanes and ships, because of its highly infectious nature and ease of transmission. The World Health Organization (WHO) called it a pandemic (global disease) on 11 March 2020.[11]The International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses gave the virus its name. As of
30 April 2024, about
775,000,000 cases of COVID-19 have been reported, and about
7,040,000 people have died of COVID-19.[6]
The virus mostly spreads when people are close to each other, which is why social distancing is used.[12] Common symptoms include fever, cough, and trouble breathing.[13] The illness can worsen with pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome.[14] As of January 2021, a number of vaccines for COVID-19 have been developed, but only a few have been found safe to use. The first vaccine to be approved was created by Pfizer and BioNTech,[15] followed by the Oxford / AstraZeneca[16] vaccine. Vaccine distribution was started in many countries in Europe, North America, South America and Asia.[17] The United Kingdom was the first western country to begin to give out a COVID-19 vaccine. [18] The vaccine was given out to all people in the country for free. No antiviral medicine for COVID-19 is available.[19] Doctors usually give patients supportive therapy instead such as giving fluids, food, oxygen, pain relief and other treatments designed to help patients deal with the symptoms.[20] People can avoid spreading the virus by regularly washing their hands, covering their mouth when coughing, maintaining distance from other people, staying away from crowds, wearing medical or cloth face coverings, and being alone for people who think they are infected, also known as quarantining.[19]
The outbreak might be from a coronavirus that usually lives in bats. This then likely infected another animal, possibly a pangolin. It then changed inside that other animal until it could infect humans.[21] It possibly originated at a wet market (a live food animal market), Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market.[22] A 55-year-old person from Hubei province was the first human to contract the virus on November 17, 2019.[23] A 61-year-old man who was a regular customer at the market was the first person to die from the virus on January 11, 2020.[24] The exact origin of the virus is still unknown since the market in Wuhan sold a variety of live wild animals in cages. Chinese tourists have spread the virus by traveling to other countries and made it a worldwide pandemic.[25]
In November 2020, two companies, Pfizer and Moderna, said they had finished making COVID-19 vaccines. Two mRNA vaccines, one by Pfizer and one by Moderna, have been tested. Both were over 90% effective.[26] Countries began planning to give the vaccine to many people.[27][28][29] 25 other vaccines have been approved by at least one country, and many others are being developed.
The United States has had the most deaths from the virus. Over 1 million Americans have died from the virus.[6]
In March 2020, the companies belonging to Sistema allocated about 1 billion rubles for the fight against coronavirus, the bulk of which was spent on the development of tests to detect infection, as well as on the production of protective equipment and antiseptics.[30][31]
In May 2023 the WHO announced the end of the pandemic.
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