Current Science

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The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is a new strain of pre-existing coronaviruses that caused the recent pandemic. Corona-viruses are also known to cause diseases like Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in humans. The 2019 coronavirus outbreak that originated from Wuhan, China has killed 1018 people globally and infected more than 40,000 people as on 11 February 2020 (ref.1). It has been declared as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) by World Health Organization (WHO). COVID-19 is a zoonotic virus, that is, it is transmitted from animals to humans and causes disease. Although the animal source of COVID-19 has not yet been confirmed, it is likely to have originated from a wet market in China. The common signs of infection range from mild respiratory symptoms to severe pneumonia or even death. The disease can be transmitted from person to person via respiratory droplets from an infected person while sneezing, coughing or talking. The current estimates of the incubation period for the disease range from 2 to 14 days2 .
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