![]() Delta began as the "Indian variant") is no longer common. The initial practice of naming them according to where the variants were identified (e.g. WHO names variants of concern and variants of interest using Greek letters. WHO additionally uses "the COVID-19 virus" and "the virus responsible for COVID-19" in public communications. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus explained: CO for corona, VI for virus, D for disease and 19 for when the outbreak was first identified (31 December 2019). WHO finalized the official names COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2 on 11 February 2020. Wuhan, China), animal species, or groups of people in disease and virus names in part to prevent social stigma. In January 2020, the WHO recommended 2019-nCoV and 2019-nCoV acute respiratory disease as interim names for the virus and disease per 2015 international guidelines against using geographical locations (e.g. ĭuring the initial outbreak in Wuhan, the virus and disease were commonly referred to as "coronavirus", "Wuhan coronavirus", "the coronavirus outbreak" and the "Wuhan coronavirus outbreak", with the disease sometimes called "Wuhan pneumonia". ![]() It is sometimes referred to as the "coronavirus pandemic" despite the existence of other human coronaviruses that have caused epidemics and outbreaks (e.g. Ĭhinese medics in Huanggang, Hubei, in 2020. While the WHO still considers the pandemic active as of 29 March 2023, some countries are transitioning their public health approach towards regarding SARS-CoV-2 as an endemic virus. The pandemic has raised issues of racial and geographic discrimination, health equity, and the balance between public health imperatives and individual rights. Misinformation has circulated through social media and mass media, and political tensions have intensified. Educational institutions and public areas were partially or fully closed in many jurisdictions, and many events were cancelled or postponed during 20. Reduced human activity led to an unprecedented decrease in pollution. Widespread supply shortages, including food shortages, were caused by supply chain disruptions and panic buying. The pandemic has triggered severe social and economic disruption around the world, including the largest global recession since the Great Depression. Public health mitigation measures include travel restrictions, lockdowns, business restrictions and closures, workplace hazard controls, quarantines, testing systems, and contact tracing of the infected, which, together with treatments, serve to bring about the control and eventual end of the pandemic. Treatments include novel antiviral drugs and symptom control. Other recommended preventive measures include social distancing, wearing masks, improving ventilation and air filtration, and quarantining those who have been exposed or are infected. According to a June 2022 study, COVID-19 vaccines prevented an additional 14.4 million to 19.8 million deaths in 185 countries and territories from 8 December 2020, to 8 December 2021. The COVID-19 vaccines have been approved and widely distributed in various countries since December 2020. Mutations have produced many strains (variants) with varying degrees of infectivity and virulence. Infected individuals are typically contagious for 10 days and can spread the virus even if they do not develop symptoms. Transmission can also occur if contaminated fluids reach the eyes, nose, or mouth, or, more rarely, through contaminated surfaces. The risk of breathing these in is highest when people are in close proximity, but they can be inhaled over longer distances, particularly indoors. COVID-19 transmits when people breathe in air contaminated by droplets and small airborne particles containing the virus. ![]() Severe illness is more likely in elderly patients and those with certain underlying medical conditions. As of, the pandemic had caused 765,222,168 cases and 6,921,601 confirmed deaths, making it one of the deadliest in history.ĬOVID-19 symptoms range from undetectable to deadly, but most commonly include fever, dry cough, and fatigue. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern on 30 January 2020, and a pandemic on 11 March 2020. Attempts to contain it there failed, allowing the virus to spread to other areas of Asia and later worldwide. The novel virus was first identified in an outbreak in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).
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