The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic

Review

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic

SAIRA BALOCH,¹ MOHSIN ALI BALOCH,² TIANLI ZHENG¹ and XIAOFANG PEI¹

¹Department of Public Health Laboratory Sciences, West China School of Public Health (No.4 West China Teaching Hospital), Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
²School of Chemical Engineering Pharmaceutical Engineering, Sichuan University of Science and Engineering, Zigong, Sichuan, China

The present study provides an overview of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak which has rapidly extended globally within a short period. COVID-19 is a highly infectious respiratory disease caused by a new coronavirus known as SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2). SARS-CoV-2 is different from usual coronaviruses responsible for mild sickness such as common cold among human beings. It is crucial to understand the impact and outcome of this pandemic. We therefore overview the changes in the curves of COVID-19 confirmed cases and fatality rate in China and outside of China from 31^st of December 2019 to 25^th of March 2020. We also aimed to assess the temporal developments and death rate of COVID-19 in China and worldwide. More than 414,179 confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been reported in 197 countries, including 81,848 cases in China and 332,331 outside of China. Furthermore, 18,440 infected patients died from COVID-19 infection; 3,287 cases were from China and 15,153 fatalities were reported worldwide. Among the worldwide infected cases, 113,802 patients have been recovered and discharged from different hospitals. Effective prevention and control measures should be taken to control the disease. The presented Chinese model (protocol) of disease prevention and control could be utilized in order to curb the pandemic situation.

Keywords —— China; coronavirus; COVID-19; pandemic; severe acute respiratory syndrome

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Tohoku J. Exp. Med., 2020, 250, 271-278

Correspondence: Saira Baloch, Department of Public Health Laboratory Sciences, West China School of Public Health (No.4 West China Teaching Hospital), Sichuan University, 16# Section 3, Renmin Road South, Chengdu, Sichuan 610041, China.

e-mail: sairamohsin@scu.edu.cn

Xiaofang Pei, Department of Public Health Laboratory Sciences, West China School of Public Health (No.4 West China Teaching Hospital), Sichuan University, 16# Section 3, Renmin Road South, Chengdu, Sichuan 610041, China.

e-mail: xxpei@scu.edu.cn