COVID-19; Plague of the 21st Century; Situation Update
Mirza Zain Baig *
Rudy L Ruggles Biomedical Research Institute, Health Quest Health System/ Nuvance Health, Danbury, Connecticut, USA.
Zaitoon Zafar
Shalamar Medical & Dental College, Lahore, Pakistan.
Abeer Aziz
Clinical Research, Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan.
Umme Hani Abdullah
Interdisciplinary Biological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indianna, USA.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
The first known case of COVID-19 caused by the novel coronavirus now known as SARS-CoV-2 occurred in Wuhan, China in late December 2019. In a matter of a few months, it has spread globally to infect more than 500, 000 people and has caused more than 20,000 deaths. It was officially declared a pandemic on March 11, 2020, by the World Health Organization (WHO). To date, it has strained medical infrastructure, stagnated global economy and given rise to social stigma, fear, and racism. In this article, we provide a comprehensive review of our current knowledge and understanding of this new disease.
Keywords: Coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19.