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Countries around the world are struggling to stop the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
As of April 26, more than 203, 000 People around the world have died of COVID-19, the highly infectious respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus.
The number of people who tested positive for COVID-19 exceeded 2.9 million, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Almost 822,000 people have recovered.
Plus:
Here is what you need to know:
What is a coronavirus?
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), coronaviruses are a family of viruses that cause diseases ranging from the common cold to more serious diseases, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS ).
These viruses were originally transmitted from animals to people. SARS, for example, was transmitted from civet cats to humans while MERS was transferred to humans from a type of camel.
Several known coronaviruses circulate in animals that have not yet infected humans.
The name coronavirus comes from the Latin word corona, which means corona or halo. Under an electron microscope, the virus appears to be surrounded by a solar corona.
The new coronavirus, identified by the Chinese authorities on January 7 and since then named SARS-CoV-2, is a new strain that has not been previously identified in humans. Little is known about it, although transmission from person to person has been confirmed.
What are the symptoms?
According to the WHO, signs of infection include fever, cough, shortness of breath, and difficulty breathing.
In more severe cases, it can lead to pneumonia, multiple organ failure, and even death.
Current estimates of the incubation period, the time between infection and the onset of symptoms, range from one to 14 days. Most infected people show symptoms within five to six days.
However, infected patients can also be asymptomatic, which means that they do not show any symptoms despite having the virus in their systems.
Read more about what the coronavirus does to your body if you catch it here.
How deadly is it?
The number of deaths from the new coronavirus has overwhelmingly exceeded the cost of the 2002-2003 SARS outbreak, which also originated in China.
SARS killed approximately 9 percent of those infected: almost 800 people worldwide and more than 300 in China alone. MERS, which did not extend as far, was more deadly, killing a third of those infected.
While the new coronavirus is more widespread than SARS in terms of case numbers, the death rate remains considerably lower, at about 3.4 percent, according to the WHO.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), older people are at increased risk for serious illness from COVID-19, which can increase stress during a crisis.
People who have serious underlying medical conditions, such as heart or lung disease or diabetes, also appear to be at high risk of developing more serious complications from COVID-19 disease.
Where have the cases been reported?
Since March 16, more cases have been recorded outside of mainland China than within, marking a new milestone in the spread of the global pandemic.
The virus has spread from China to the entire world, prompting the WHO to label the COVID-19 outbreak as a pandemic.
The person-to-person transmissions became apparent after cases with no apparent link to China were recorded.
Read about which countries have confirmed cases here.
What is being done to prevent it from spreading?
Scientists around the world compete to develop a vaccine, but have warned that one is not likely to be available for mass distribution before 2021.
Meanwhile, a growing number of countries have introduced a series of radical measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus, including national blockades, banning of meetings, closing of schools, restaurants, bars and sports clubs, as well as the issuance of work. mandatory since- home decrees.
International airlines have canceled flights worldwide. Some countries have banned foreigners from entering their territories, and several more have evacuated their citizens from abroad.
Where did the virus originate?
Chinese health authorities are still trying to determine the origin of the virus, which they say likely came from a seafood market in Wuhan, China, where wildlife was also illegally traded.
On February 7, Chinese researchers said the virus could have spread from an infected animal species to humans through illegally trafficked pangolins, which are prized in Asia for food and medicine.
Scientists have pointed to bats or snakes as possible sources of the virus.
Is this a global emergency?
Yes, this outbreak is a global health emergency, the WHO said on January 30, further raising the alarm on March 11 when it declared the crisis to be a pandemic.
The international health alert is a call to countries around the world to coordinate their response under the guidance of the WHO.
There have been five global health emergencies since 2005 when the declaration was formalized: swine flu in 2009, polio in 2014, Ebola in 2014, Zika in 2016, and Ebola again in 2019.
Are smokers more likely to be at risk for the coronavirus?
Smoking can make people more susceptible to the serious complications of a coronavirus infection, the European Union agency for disease control said.
In its updated assessment of the risks caused by coronavirus, the European Center for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC) included smokers among those potentially most vulnerable to COVID-19.
Smokers also appear to be more susceptible to respiratory complications caused by the disease, and the ECDC said it was advisable to identify them as a possible vulnerable group, confirming an earlier assessment.
The agency cited a study by Chinese doctors who, in a sample of 99 coronavirus-affected patients, found that acute smokers had a higher risk of dying than older people.
The ECDC report also said that smoking was associated with increased activity in the lungs of an enzyme, ACE2, that could make patients more vulnerable to COVID-19, citing a study by Guoshuai Cai of the University of Carolina. from the south.
The activity of ACE2, or the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2, also increases with age and with some types of hypertension treatment, both risk factors, the ECDC said.
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