World Health Organization declares global emergency: A review of the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19)
Catrin Sohrabi, Zaid Alsafi, Niamh O’Neill, Mehdi Khan, Ahmed Kerwan, Ahmed Al‐Jabir, Christos Iosifidis, Riaz Agha
Abstract
An unprecedented outbreak of pneumonia of unknown aetiology in Wuhan City, Hubei province in China emerged in December 2019. A novel coronavirus was identified as the causative agent and was subsequently termed COVID-19 by the World Health Organization (WHO). Considered a relative of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), COVID-19 is caused by a betacoronavirus named SARS-CoV-2 that affects the lower respiratory tract and manifests as pneumonia in humans. Despite rigorous global containment and quarantine efforts, the incidence of COVID-19 continues to rise, with 90,870 laboratory-confirmed cases and over 3,000 deaths worldwide. In response to this global outbreak, we summarise the current state of knowledge surrounding COVID-19.