SARS-CoV-2: a storm is raging
Savannah F. Pedersen, Ya‐Chi Ho
Abstract
In early December 2019, several local health facilities first reported pneumonia cases of unknown origin in Wuhan, China. This new coronavirus infectious disease (COVID-19), caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), was first reported on December 1, 2020 and identified as a previously unknown betacoronavirus (1, 2). Since then, studies have increasingly demonstrated that SARS-CoV-2 can be transmitted effectively among humans through aerosol or fomites (3-5). With transmission capabilities even before symptom onset (6, 7), this pandemic is rapidly evolving and expanding. As of April 2, 2020, a total of 962,977 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 49,180 deaths have been reported across 180 countries and regions. Recent models indicated that as much as 86% of all infections early in the spread were undocumented, suggesting the real number of infections is likely much greater (8). As a public health emergency of international concern, COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. Public health authorities around the globe are now racing to contain the spread.