COVID-19 is a disease caused by a virus called SARS-CoV-2. This virus was first identified in December 2019 and quickly spread around the world. Most people with COVID-19 have mild illness. But some people get very sick, and some die from the disease. While most people recover in a few weeks, some may not fully recover for a long time. Because COVID-19 spreads easily and can be dangerous, it caused a worldwide public health emergency.
SARS-CoV-2 is a type of coronavirus. Coronaviruses are a very common large family of viruses. They can cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases, such as the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV) that was first identified in China in 2003 and the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) that was first identified in Saudi Arabia in 2012.
Coronaviruses are common in people and many different species of animals, including camels, cattle, civet cats, and bats. Many coronaviruses are zoonotic, meaning they are transmitted from animals to people. This type of transmission is called spillover.
In December 2019, scientists identified a new type of coronavirus that had not been previously seen in humans. They found this new virus during an investigation into an outbreak of respiratory disease in Wuhan, China. The World Health Organization (WHO) named this virus Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). This name was chosen because the virus is genetically related to the coronavirus responsible for the SARS outbreak of 2003. The disease caused by this virus is known as Coronavirus Disease 2019, or COVID-19.
The name of this disease is Coronavirus Disease 2019, abbreviated as COVID-19. In COVID-19, ‘CO’ stands for ‘corona,’ ‘VI’ for ‘virus,’ and ‘D’ for disease. Formerly, this disease was referred to as “2019 novel coronavirus” or “2019-nCoV.”
COVID-19 typically spreads three ways.
1. Respiratory droplets: When a person is infected with the virus that causes COVID-19, they produce small droplets containing the virus when they sneeze, cough, or talk. These droplets are often not visible to the naked eye, but can be seen on slow motion cameras. A healthy person who is close to the infected person can then breathe in these droplets and catch the virus. This is similar to how flu and cold viruses spread.
2. Airborne transmission: Sometimes, very small respiratory droplets can stay in the air for several hours and travel longer distances. A healthy person can then breathe in these droplets and catch the virus. This happens more often in indoor settings that are not well ventilated.
3. Infected surfaces or objects: It may be possible to get COVID-19 by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching your mouth, nose, or eyes. This type of spread is thought to be less common with COVID-19.
Symptoms of COVID-19 can be mild, like the symptoms of a common cold or allergies. The symptoms also be serious, like shortness of breath or trouble breathing. In the most serious cases, COVID-19 can cause pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, organ failure, or death. These severe outcomes are more likely to happen in people older than 50 years, people with risk factors for severe disease, as well as people who aren’t up to date on their COVID-19 vaccines.
Symptoms can include, but are not limited to:
People who have any COVID-like symptoms should get tested as soon as possible and stay home until your symptoms improve and you have been fever free (without medication) for 24 hours. When you go back to your normal activities, take added precaution over the next five days, such as taking additional steps for cleaner air, hygiene, masks, physical distancing, and/or testing when you will be around other people indoors.
If someone is showing any of these signs, seek emergency medical care immediately by calling 911 or going to your local emergency facility:
This list does not include all possible severe symptoms. Please call your medical provider for any other symptoms that are severe or concerning to you.
Yes. Some people who get COVID-19 don’t feel any symptoms. This is called an asymptomatic case. People who are asymptomatic can still transmit the virus to other people. If you think or know you have been exposed, but you don’t have symptoms, you should get tested at least five days after you think you were in contact with a person who had COVID-19.