News
NEWS
COVID-19: AN UNFORESEEN GLOBAL PANDEMIC CRISIS
The novel coronavirus, which the World Health Organization has designated SARS-CoV-2, belongs to the same family of viruses as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). Coronaviruses can cause respiratory infections, the effects of which range in severity from common cold-like symptoms to fatal respiratory illness. The disease caused by the novel coronavirus has been named COVID-19. Current confirmed cases are around 169,387 and confirmed death tolls to 6,513, in 114 countries, with a global fatality rate of 3.4 percent.
The coronavirus outbreak began in December 2019 in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province and the largest city in central China. Epidemiologists have traced the likely source of the outbreak to the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in downtown Wuhan, where they believe the virus was initially transmitted from animals to humans. On March 11, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the novel coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic, underscoring the speed and tenacity with which it has spread.