COVID-19: Understanding the Pandemic Emergence, Impact and Infection Prevalence Worldwide

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has showed high transmission across the continents due to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) with total infected cases of around ~ 44 million people This communicable virus that initiated from the Wuhan city of China in the month of December 2020 has now spread to 189 different countries with 1 1 million fatalities worldwide (till 28 Oct, 2020) The World Health Organization (WHO) declared this outbreak as Public Health Emergency of International Concern in January, 2020 The infection spreads mainly due to contact with infected droplets or fomites, highlighting flu like symptoms initially, which may further progress into severe pneumonia and respiratory failure, often observed in elderly patients with prehistory of other diseases The diagnosis is based on detection of viral antigen, human antibody and viral gene (RT-PCR) Further, various other diagnostic tools including X-ray, CT-scan are used for imaging purpose, recently artificial intelligence based imaging (contactless scanning) gained popularity Generally testing of existing drugs (repurposing) and development of new molecules are the main strategies adopted by researchers However, as per initial findings, various drugs, monoclonal antibody and plasma therapy were found to show effectiveness against COVID-19 Further, many vaccine candidates have entered or will soon enter phase III clinical testing This disease has further challenged the global economy Thus, this review uniquely compares the strategies adopted by developed and developing countries worldwide including protective measures like lockdown, continuous testing, utilizing latest tools (artificial intelligence) in curbing this infection spread [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Pure & Applied Microbiology is the property of Dr M N Khan and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use This abstract may be abridged No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract (Copyright applies to all Abstracts )