<center>''See [[coronavirus]] for a more substantive explanation.''</center>
'''Coronavirus disease 2019''', or '''COVID-19''' or '''COVID-19''' or '''Chinese Virus''' or '''Wuhan Virus''', is the name of the disease caused by a novel strain of the [[coronavirus]] (SARS-CoV-2 or 2019-nCoV) identified as originating in [[Wuhan, China]] in late November and early December 2019.<ref>[https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3074991/coronavirus-chinas-first-confirmed-covid-19-case-traced-back Coronavirus: China’s first confirmed Covid-19 case traced back to November 17], Josephine Ma, 13 Mar, 2020. www.scmp.com</ref> The outbreak turned into a [[pandemic]], reaching every continent on the planet by March 2020. Genetic mapping suggests that the Wuhan virus is related to severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) of 2002 and 2003 as well as to the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) of 2012 to the present. COVID-19 is considered highly infectious with an estimated basic reproduction number (R<sub>0</sub>) of 2.2. The mortality rate is described as considerably less than 1 percent in people under 65. By comparison, the mortality rate for seasonal influenza is 0.1 percent, SARS was 9 to 10 percent, and MERS was 36 percent.<ref name="Fauci">Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., H. Clifford Lane, M.D., and Robert R. Redfield, M.D., "[https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMe2002387 Covid-19 — Navigating the Uncharted]," ''New England Journal of Medicine'', March 26, 2020.</ref>
A great deal of research is being conducted on this virus. The first vaccine candidates will enter phase 1 trials by early spring 2020. Therapy is currently limited to supportive care. Medication in current use include the antiviral drugs lopinavir–ritonavir, interferon-1β, the dangerous and expensive RNA polymerase inhibitor remdesivir, and [[hydroxychloroquine]].<ref name="Fauci" />